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I ran into a similar problem entering the US on a ferry from the Bahamas.

I think I may have been misled but apparently if you're on the border you aren't allowed to refuse to talk/refuse searches/etc. So they forced me to search my phone and spent about 6 hours interrogating me about my political opinions, family history, etc.

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If you're a US citizen, they have to let you in – eventually. In the meantime you may be sitting in a room without access to your phone.

With customs everywhere, you're usually better off answering their questions without asking why they want to know. Coming back from a visit to family, they wanted to know my three sisters' ages among other irrelevant stuff.

I think it's like 200 miles from any boarder, including the coastline.

Ie. It can be very broadly abused.

Yeah which is crazy because that basically means every major city in the country.

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