You're gaining a more efficient CBP, enforcing visa rules and avoiding overstays like they do now, just with higher accuracy. Now if you want to argue that visa classes are silly and the US should just let anyone come in for whatever, fine, but that's a totally different argument.

And yes, it's possible that this isn't worth the gains to CBP. But the US is pretty powerful and can force quite a bit of crap on people without getting too hurt. If it stops, it'll most likely be from efforts from e.g. Facebook lobbying against it.

Business travelers have little choice. A lot of migrants have no choice (the benefits of US residency far outweigh the inconvenience for most people) -- we can test this out by looking at how many Mexicans or other Latam folks stay in the US vs, say, Canada over the next few years (confounding that is Canada removing visa requirements for Mexicans). Tourism might be hit a bit, but I'm unconvinced this is a big enough deal for people to rethink their entire vacation plans.

Enforcing visas through violating privacy seems like a good enough argument against this practice to me. What you're also gaining is a precedent to enforce more searches that look through not just your public life, but also the intimate parts that the government really doesn't have much business in analyzing.

Yep you're right and this is the kind of arguments people should be making.

The guy that had this happen to him recently was American and working for NASA AFAIK. If catching overstays is the issue why do this to citizens?

Power grows? I'd like to know what contraband CBP expects to find on electronic devices. At any rate, they can only ask citizens to comply, not force them.

> So we're not catching "real" spies and terrorists; we're catching nannies trying to get paid under the table; do you think maybe we've got bigger fish to fry? This is a bad precedent, and what are we gaining? Nothing.

A country which controls its borders gains … control of its borders. If it's illegal to enter a country as a tourist in order to live with one's girlfriend, well it's illegal to enter that country as a tourist in order to live with one's girlfriend. That doesn't mean the law is right, or good, or desirable, just that if one enters that country as a tourist in order to live with one's girlfriend, one will be breaking that country's law and is liable to be deported.

Although I tend to favour open borders, myself, I think it's perfectly reasonable for the customs police of any country to turn away people trying to enter that country illegally.

That doesn't address the question of balance between the seriousness of the illegality and the invasiveness of the investigatory technique.

It would certainly be feasible to require every vehicle to be fitted with a data/position logger so that a vast number of hitherto undetected breaches of the laws governing the road can be immediately detected and punished - but it's pretty clear that the invasiveness of this is not worth the gains in compliance.

> That doesn't address the question of balance between the seriousness of the illegality and the invasiveness of the investigatory technique.

No, it doesn't, because I addressed the statement, 'What are we gaining? Nothing.'

I don't support the policy at all; I think it's a fundamental human right to encrypt data and not have to give the password to anyone.

The people that voted for Trump get to gain a bunch of thankless, low-pay jobs that will no longer be allocated to illegal aliens. There might be bigger fishes to fry, but given that they never get invited when salmon is on the menu, they are happy to see the sardine cans comming in.

And if they cannot or will not take the nanny jobs for themselves, at least they get to mock the uppity mothers that voted for Hillary and now are forced to dump their careers to take care of their own children.

Rule of Law.

It's so obvious as to hardly bear mentioning, but you can use this to excuse any violation of rights if you want. Sometimes "rule of law" just isn't worth it.

Sure, but you've offered no argument regarding this particular situation.

Sounds more like rule by law.

Sounds like no nation wants undocumented labor because it is very problematic.