Judge Blocks ICE From Searching Immigration Lawyer's Phone
Summary
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from accessing data copied from immigration lawyer Andrew Lattarulo’s cellphone. The judge found that current evidence suggests Lattarulo is likely to prove that agents seized his phone in retaliation for his protected speech about immigration.Key Facts
- U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs granted the injunction on Thursday.
- Customs and Border Protection agents and a Homeland Security Investigations officer stopped Lattarulo at Boston Logan International Airport on September 28, 2025, as he returned from Aruba.
- Agents seized Lattarulo’s phone without a warrant and downloaded a complete copy of its data; they returned the phone eight days later.
- The copied data remains unreadable, and the administration said it would seek to convert and search it if the court allowed.
- Lattarulo represents clients in immigration proceedings and posts immigration rights information on Instagram.
- The government said the seizure related to an investigation into whether Lattarulo’s law firm employed people who lacked authorization to work in the United States.
- Burroughs cited the timing of the seizure and the fact that Lattarulo’s partner, who had similar access to employment records, was not searched.
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