35
votes
Accepted
Are these unsolicited seed packages illegal?
Reports I've seen are that these seed shipments have false customs declarations, claiming that they contain something else, e.g. this one which was declared as "ring". That would violate 18 ...
- 30.1k
20
votes
Accepted
Would it be legal to erase, disable, or destroy your phone when a CBP agent attempted to seize it?
This is going to depend on what you think or know is on the phone, why you want to keep it undisclosed, and why the officer says s/he wants it. If one knows or has good reason to think that there is ...
- 114k
17
votes
What does it mean if your apartment is in two cities at once
The location of your residence entrance is irrelevant for the law, what matters most is your "street address", i.e. mailing address. That is the address (therefore city) that you use for voter ...
- 216k
14
votes
Are these unsolicited seed packages illegal?
We have an intersection of two very different effects.
Agricultural import laws
This is an area of law that normally, consumers have no reason to deal with. However the laws apply to absolutely ...
11
votes
Accepted
In USA, does private property go right up to the international border?
Or is there a strip of land there which is national land reserved for border patrol purposes?
There is a six-meter wide "border vista" under the authority of the International Boundary Commission. (...
- 3,294
9
votes
International Turkey Hunt
I cannot prove a negative, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that there is no Minnesota law preventing Juan from reaching out from the US side and grabbing his bird from Canada. (you didn't ...
- 4,763
8
votes
Can US citizens be denied entry to the US?
Citizens likely have an absolute right to enter the US. This hasn't been addressed directly by the Supreme Court, but here are some cases that come close.
The Fifth Circuit, in William Worthy, Jr. v. ...
- 4,034
5
votes
Accepted
Why does the CBP border zone nearly touch Reno, Nevada?
The immediate explanation is the substantial eastward jog created by Suisun and Grizzly Bay. This would follow from 33 CFR 2.20, defining the territorial sea baseline, following the Convention on the ...
- 216k
5
votes
Accepted
Do "peaceable journey" laws apply to things other than firearms?
The second amendment doesn't apply to fireworks, and they're not considered firearms. In California, possession of dangerous fireworks is forbidden (see CA Health & Safety Code § 12677 (2023)):
...
- 2,692
4
votes
Accepted
US laws requiring US citizens to enter the country at designated border crossings
Yes for individuals, and yes for vehicles. They're customs laws rather than immigration laws.
- 24.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Can someone who owns property on the border prevent/delay government related construction?
Could this actually prevent the construction of something (i.e a wall)
from being built, or perhaps delay the process?
It could not prevent the construction of a wall from being built.
It could ...
- 230k
4
votes
Can you refuse to show ID and give information to Border Patrol agents when not at a international border?
tl;dr According to the ACLU, who are experts on this… yes, it is perfectly legal for you to refuse to provide documentation or ID to border patrol, and your refusal cannot be used as a basis for ...
- 141
4
votes
How can I inquire about some one else's border crossing history in Canada?
Without this person's consent, you can't.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/req-dem-info-eng.html
Requests for personal information that is not the ...
- 30.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to enter illegally one's own country?
It may very well be illegal, depending on the laws of the country. Most people have the right to enter their own country (except for practical problems, like not being able to prove you have the right)...
- 35.1k
4
votes
Is this a case of improper entry into the US?
There is a legal concept of de minimis: the idea that some offenses, civil or criminal, are too small to be worth prosecuting. For example, a photograph of a city scene that incidentally captured ...
- 6,437
4
votes
Filing a complaint against USBP officials
You don't need any legal precedent to start a complaint process. You can just file a complaint through the CBP's system.
- 61.5k
4
votes
Would it be legal to erase, disable, or destroy your phone when a CBP agent attempted to seize it?
As the other commenters established, your criminal liability depends on whether the contents of the phone are, or may be deemed to be 'evidence'.
But the border guard is not (usually) acting in ...
3
votes
What does it mean if your apartment is in two cities at once
That's a fascinating circumstance, but I would say it has limited bearing on you as a tenant, except for a couple of issues. I say this because landlord-tenant laws in most U.S. jurisdictions are a ...
- 66
3
votes
Accepted
Extradite or deport a criminal while there is no treaty between the two countries of Iran and Canada
Promoting the comment to an answer based on the feedback.
Canada is not going to extradite him but they may deport him if he committed any immigration fraud. Typically applications for Visa or Work ...
- 1,323
3
votes
Can I be prosecuted for smuggling as long as I honestly declare everything I'm bringing?
You don't get do-overs at the border
The instant they catch you, they can charge you with absolutely anything that applies. They apply the laws which apply in their country.
It's easy to forget ...
3
votes
Can I be prosecuted for smuggling as long as I honestly declare everything I'm bringing?
If I attempt to carry such a product into the country, but then honestly declare it at the border (I would like to declare 10 kg of marijuana, sir), can I be prosecuted for attempted smuggling?
This ...
- 39k
3
votes
Are there any international laws or rules for returning a dead body after a cross-border killing?
The question starts with a wrong statement, that international law does not allow the use of force against unarmed border violators. It does. There are human rights involved, and any one border policy ...
- 19.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Can Texas jail illegal border crossers?
This letter from the governor says what happened, at the level of "the state". First, this all relates to a series of proclamations, saying
that the surge of individuals unlawfully crossing ...
- 216k
3
votes
Can it be illegal to have/use a "wipe data" login on your device?
canada
If this is done with the specific intention of obstructing justice (see R. c. Charbonneau, 1992 CanLII 2979 (QCCA)), then this is an offence contrary to s. 139(2) of the Criminal Code. The ...
- 66.3k
3
votes
Can it be illegal to have/use a "wipe data" login on your device?
Using it may be a crime
Having it is fine
australia
There is a similar crime in all jurisdictions which in new-south-wales is called Tampering etc with evidence under s317 of the Crimes Act 1900.
To ...
- 219k
3
votes
Legality of the Border Tunnels
Clearly it's not legal to violate a sovereign nation's territory, and territory extends into both ground and air.
"International law" depends on treaties and agreements between countries, or ...
- 7,443
2
votes
Accepted
In which circumstances can law enforcement of one country cross the border of another one?
Let's start with the basic rule on pursuits. The law enforcement officers of one country have no authority to even enter another country, let alone pursue someone (which often involves very dangerous ...
- 24.2k
2
votes
Accepted
Can non-US citizens challenge US border entry refusal?
For most grounds of inadmissibility, most nonimmigrants are actually entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge before being removed from the US. See 8 CFR 235.3(b)(3):
(3) Additional charges ...
- 39k
2
votes
Can non-US citizens challenge US border entry refusal?
The short answer is "no." The executive branch has broad discretionary authority to make a border entry refusal even if someone's paperwork is in order under immigration law.
I don't have the ...
- 230k
2
votes
Can you refuse to show ID and give information to Border Patrol agents when not at a international border?
At an inland checkpoint, vehicles are stopped without individualized suspicion. The question quotes an unsourced statement from a Wikipedia article that US citizens are not required to produce ...
- 39k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible