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- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated that electronic device searches are infrequent and unrelated to political beliefs, focusing on national security threats.
- Makled said he believes he was targeted due to his involvement in cases that challenge the current administration of President Donald Trump.
A lawyer’s spring break trip to the Dominican Republic with his family ended on a troubling note at Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday: He was detained by federal agents, questioned about his clients, and asked to give up his cellphone, he says.
But Dearborn attorney Amir Makled, who is representing a pro-Palestinian demonstrator who was arrested at the University of Michigan last year, stood his ground. He didn’t give up his phone.
“I’m an American citizen. I’m not worried about being deported,” Makled said he recalled thinking to himself in the airport interrogation room. “So, I tell them, ‘I know you can take my phone. I’m not going to give you my phone, however … 90% of my work is on my phone. You’re not getting unfettered access to (it).’ “
What followed was a 90-minute, back-and-forth verbal tussle between Makled and two federal agents, who, he said, ultimately released him without taking his phone, but looked at his contacts list instead. For the 38-year-old civil rights and criminal defense attorney, it was a daunting experience that he says highlights a troubling phenomenon that’s occurring across the United States: Lawyers are getting targeted for handling issues the administration of President Donald Trump disagrees with.
‘Different type of threat’
Makled’s airport experience comes in the wake of a memo that President Donald Trump issued to the U.S. Justice Department last month, in which he directed the agency to seek sanctions against attorneys, alleging they are helping fuel “rampant fraud and meritless claims” in the immigration system.
That’s the bit that Makled said irritates him. He’s not an immigration lawyer, he says. So why did the government want his phone, he asks?
“This current administration is doing something that no administration has done — they are attacking attorneys,” Makled said, stressing lawyers from big and small firms alike are being targeted. “This is a different type of threat to the rule of law that I see. They are now challenging the judiciary, or lawyers, they’re putting pressure (on them) to dissuade attorneys from taking on issues that are against the government’s issues. We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff.”
In a statement to the Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, Customs and Border Protection Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham defended the government’s airport tactics.
“Claims that CBP is searching more electronic media due to the administration change are false. CBP’s search numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.1% of travelers have their devices searched,” the statement reads.
“These searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility, all of which play a critical role in national security. Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible.”
Dad’s photo raised red flags at airport
According to Makled, here are the events that unfolded at Detroit Metro Airport after his family landed back home from a five-day stay in Punta Canta:
It was about 7 p.m. when the Delta flight landed back at Detroit Metro. Makled, his wife and two daughters exited the plane and made their way to the passport checkpoint for screening. Their photos were taken.
Mom and the kids got through with no problem. But when Makled’s photo was taken, a notification popped up and Makled said he heard one agent ask another agent: “Hey, are the TTRT folks around?”
“I thought, ‘What the hell is that?’ So, I Google that quickly,” Makled recalled of the acronym.
He quickly learned that TTRT stands for Tactical Terrorism Response Team.
Makled said his wife looked at him and asked what was going on, but he said he didn’t know. As the border agents let his wife and kids go, they took Makled into a small interrogation room.
‘We know you’re a lawyer’
While in the interrogation room, Makled said, a man in plain clothes entered and began speaking to him. He said he recalls the man telling him: “We know you’re a lawyer. We know you take on big cases.”
Makled said he responded: “I said, ‘I’m not a famous lawyer. Let’s get to the bottom. What’s the issue here?’ “
According to Makled, there were two men in the room with him. One told him it’s a federal crime to lie to a federal agent.
“I’m aware of that,” Makled said. “But you’re not identifying yourself.”
One agent handed him a pamphlet about confiscating phones at the border. Makled, who is familiar with the law, said he was well aware that the government can confiscate one’s phone for a period of time and then give it back. But he said he told the agents he wasn’t going to let them have his phone because it contained privileged information with all of his clients.
So, he said, the agents asked for a list of texts that he believed to be privileged. Makled said he told them that that was impossible given his thousands of texts.
So they kept pushing.
“I said, ‘Listen, why don’t you ask me what you want. What is it that you’re looking for, and I’ll decide if I’m going to give you the answer.’ “
“He said, ‘Nope. It doesn’t work like that … we want your contact list,’ ” Makled said he was told.
Makled agreed to let them see his contact list. The agents asked who various people were, though Makled said he only told them that they are his clients, nothing more.
The meeting ended with the agents writing up a report and releasing Makled without incident.
Before Makled left the room, he said he asked the agents whether this was going to be routine in the future — him getting stopped at airports and questioned.
The agent told him he didn’t have an answer, but said he would write up a report and that “as a result, you should be fine,” Makled said he was told.
Makled said he then left the room and soon reunited with his family.
‘I have to be a person who can speak out’
Makled views himself as a respected lawyer in his community of Dearborn, where he is a partner in a law firm of five lawyers. He helps people through all kinds of legal trouble, he said, whether traffic tickets, or civil rights issues, or serious injuries.
His latest high-profile client is Samantha Lewis, who is among seven demonstrators arrested last year following her involvement at a pro-Palestinian protest on the U-M campus. While the seven defendants face misdemeanor trespassing charges, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also charged them with resisting arrest and obstructing police, a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.
Nessel has maintained that they used “physical force to counter” police who were trying to clear them from an encampment they had established on the diag. The students, however, have pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintain they were engaged in protected, free speech.
“I don’t know what triggered this,” Makled said of his ordeal at the airport. “I don’t know if it’s a result of civil rights cases, or First Amendment issues involving student protesters. They wouldn’t tell me what it is.”
But whatever the reason, Makled said, he’s on notice now.
“We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff,” Makled said. “I have to be a person who can speak out when your rights are violated. We have to be the balancing act. We’re a nation of laws. You gotta have lawyers.”
And whether the government believes its “fear mongering” tactics are going to silence lawyers, Makled said he has a message: “It’s not working,” he said. “It’s going to do the opposite.”
Contact Tresa Baldas: [email protected]