Aid Trip Fallout: US Customs Seizes Phones From Cuba Volunteers

Upon their return to the United States from Havana on a private aircraft, participants of a mission that transported humanitarian assistance to Cuba faced apprehension and questioning by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Among the twenty US nationals selected for further examination at Miami International Airport early Wednesday, eighteen had their mobile phones and various other gadgets confiscated by CBP, with minimal details provided regarding their potential return or timeline.

This collective belonged to a broader alliance of campaigners who journeyed periodically to Cuba as part of the Nuestra América Expedition, an endeavor named after a nineteenth-century Cuban scholar José Martí’s essay that critiqued US hegemony across the Americas. Comprising 650 representatives from thirty-three nations, the expedition furnished an estimated twenty tons of assistance to the island country. Certain participants journeyed to Cuba by ocean aboard a 75-foot fishing vessel that set sail from Mexico, laden with provisions such as rice, beans, tinned goods, infant formula, bicycles, and solar panels, intended for distribution among local Cuban entities. Meanwhile, others rented aircraft, with a significant number of these flights originating and concluding in Miami. A contingent, spearheaded by the activist organization CODEPINK, declared it transported 6,300 pounds of pharmaceuticals and other healthcare provisions, worth approximately $433,000. The twenty individuals apprehended on Monday had all journeyed collectively as a component of the CODEPINK delegation.

These provisions were aimed at mitigating the consequences of the persistent US embargo on petroleum shipments to Cuba. Since the January seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has hindered Venezuelan oil consignments to Cuba, although Reuters indicates that the State Department has permitted a restricted quantity of energy exports to Cuba’s private sector. This scarcity has catapulted the already beleaguered country into a critical state: the island has been afflicted by intermittent power cuts. Provisions are perishing in refrigeration units, refuse is accumulating on thoroughfares due to insufficient energy for collection, and Cubans are compelled to reside in darkness while a handful of enterprises operate using US-provided oil. Cuba’s global healthcare system has been severely affected: the New York Times reports that hospital patients are suffering fatalities due to a dearth of supplies, and medical practitioners inform the publication that these deaths would otherwise be avoidable were it not for the deficit of petroleum.

Among those comprising the expedition were several prominent campaigners, such as progressive streamer Hasan Piker and Chris Smalls, the Amazon employee who facilitated a work stoppage at a New York City establishment in 2020. Smalls was counted among those whose gadgets were confiscated.

“A private plane departed yesterday and proceeded quite smoothly,” Olivia DiNucci, a coordinator at the progressive peace group CODEPINK, informed The Verge on Wednesday. DiNucci was among the twenty participants of the expedition who were singled out for additional scrutiny. “A few individuals were apprehended, but it was rather swift and — quote unquote — ‘normal’ ethnic profiling that occurred. However, immediately upon disembarking the aircraft, twenty of us were ushered in.”

DiNucci stated that her name was announced prior to her approaching the immigration counter. All twenty individuals were ushered into further examination and subsequently interrogated separately. Certain inquiries were typical: DiNucci recounted being enquired about her activities in Cuba, the duration of her stay, her accommodation, her companions, her occupation, her residence, and her contact number. However, according to DiNucci, certain individuals within the collective who possess kinfolk in Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba were interrogated concerning their families.

“They inquired of others regarding their family in Cuba, and the occupation they performed in Venezuela,” DiNucci stated. “An official remarked, ‘Cubans desire Marco Rubio’s leadership,’” and was “criticizing the circumstance that we supplied assistance that the regime would merely appropriate.”

CBP failed to reply to The Verge‘s inquiry for a statement.

DiNucci stated that the immigration officials presented the group with two alternatives: they could unseal and relinquish their phones for examination, or their gadgets would be confiscated. DiNucci reported that she and another individual willingly surrendered their phones. The remaining eighteen individuals had their gadgets impounded. Officials also scrutinized people’s notebooks and diaries, and captured images of the material within. DiNucci’s phone was in flight mode, and she believes officials reviewed her pictures. “I had all my communication applications, all my electronic mail, everything erased” prior to passing through immigration, she mentioned. At one moment, her phone was removed from her view; she remains unaware of the officials’ actions thereafter.

Suzanne Adely, leader of the National Lawyers Guild, informed The Verge that these sorts of mobile phone examinations are not unprecedented and are frequently employed targeting campaigners. The association is furnishing participants of the expedition with details regarding their entitlements and endeavoring to assist in retrieving their handsets.

“We understand that the US primarily undertakes these actions to intimidate, but I am convinced these campaigners will remain undeterred and will maintain unity with Cuba as they withstand this cruel US embargo,” Adely stated. “We aim to compel the authorities to restore their handsets promptly, and there exists a method to seek compensation for the consequences of what we consider an illegitimate search and confiscation.”

A Cuban-American participant of the expedition, who requested anonymity due to career considerations,

said she journeyed using a disposable mobile device. “I experienced apprehension regarding it,” she stated. “There are accounts of individuals being subjected to searches, so I wished to avoid taking any risks.”

Her passage through Miami and re-entry into the United States the previous week occurred without any complications. She believes her smooth transit was due to possessing Global Entry, a recognized expedited traveler initiative overseen by CBP. Other participants in her contingent were singled out for questioning, and a few had their electronic gadgets inspected, she added.

Having been raised within a Cuban-American household, she noted, she was frequently cautioned concerning the suppression in Cuba. “I’ve consistently received admonitions about Cuba operating as an intense surveillance regime,” she mentioned, “yet, I couldn’t conceive of a more extensive one than the United States.”

The Trump government has issued a warning to levy duties upon any nation supplying fuel to Cuba. Just this past week, a Russian tanker, conveying approximately 730,000 barrels of unrefined petroleum, navigated the English Channel, accompanied by a Russian naval vessel. During an international assembly held in February, numerous Caribbean states committed to dispatching humanitarian assistance to Cuba and urged a reduction of friction between the United States and the island territory.

The Cuban-American participant in the delegation, who communicated with The Verge, stated its objective was to assist citizens grappling with the repercussions of the embargo. “My belief is that, fundamentally, individuals participated out of a desire to aid others,” she remarked. “And I contend that, ultimately, that constituted the core objective.”

Inspections of personal mobile devices without a warrant generally contravene the Fourth Amendment, with a prominent sole exemption: namely, examinations performed at entry points, such as airfields. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that such inspections “are justifiable merely by virtue of their occurrence at the national boundary.”

CBP carries out two categories of device examinations: “elementary” scrutinies, similar to what DiNucci experienced, wherein officials may view any content accessible offline on an individual’s phone, along with more sophisticated forensic analyses. Forensic examinations without warrants are permissible at certain entry points but forbidden at others, owing to a disparate collection of federal judgments yielding varied results.

Passengers retain the right to decline examination of their devices, however, for individuals not holding US citizenship, this action could result in refusal of admission to the nation. Citizens who decline inspections risk having their gadgets confiscated, a fate that befell 18 participants of the delegation transiting Miami on Wednesday.

Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK and a participant in the delegation who re-entered the US through Miami on March 23rd, reported that she and the majority of her contingent gained entry unimpeded. “I faced only a few inquiries, and that concluded the process, which mirrored the experience for most individuals,” she stated. Although five members of her group were diverted for additional scrutiny, their detention lasted merely around thirty minutes.

Nevertheless, Benjamin expressed difficulty in disseminating information regarding the severity of the circumstances that have emerged in Cuba.

Benjamin recounted that Miami authorities obstructed her group’s capacity to host a press briefing prior to the journey; as their permit was rejected by officials. The United States’ approach to Cuba, she noted, seems to adhere to the rationale that “in order to free the Cuban populace, we must impose sufficient hardship to provoke an uprising.” “This is an intensely ideological stance that fails to address the populace and their genuine necessities.”