By Lauren Bailey

Concerned about scrutiny and searches of personal electronic devices, the Alberta Investment Management Corp. is asking employees to stop non-essential business travel to the U.S., according to a report by the Financial Post.

Employees of the $179.6B pension fund can no longer travel to attend conferences or speaking events in the U.S.; however, they are still allowed to make trips for board and investor meetings, anonymous sources told the Post. The move comes as the Canadian government is issuing a warning for travelers entering the U.S., saying they should “expect scrutiny” and may have their electronic devices searched.

Indeed, there have been news reports and stories shared on social media from travelers claiming to have been stopped by U.S. border security and having their phones searched. For example, Le Monde reported that, in March, a French scientist said he was denied US entry after phone messages critical of President Donald J. Trump were found. France’s research minister said the scientist was traveling to Houston for a conference when his phone was searched.

The U.S. Constitution has a concept rooted within it against unreasonable searches and seizures, but that is greatly relaxed at the border, said Gabriella Agostinelli, a senior associate attorney with Berardi Immigration Law, noting officers at the border have the ability to ask travelers to the U.S. for their passwords to electronics.

What’s more, if an individual refuses to give the border agents their electronics, they have the right to seize and detain the devices. She said it’s understandable that an employer would think twice before wanting to send their employees to the U.S. “There is no business privilege that prevents a border officer from looking at communications as part of one’s day-to-day work on a laptop [or] cell phone. So, there is a risk to employers out there if they have confidential or proprietary information that they want to keep out of the hands of the government or from competitors.”  

But this isn’t unique to the Trump Administration, said Agostinelli, pointing out that the law has been on the books for some time. In 2018, the government released a memo outlining that, while Customs and Border Protection agents can ask for passwords and can search electronics, they do not have the right to ask for access to cloud accounts. 

Employers have options, though, she said, noting they can securely store in the cloud anything proprietary or confidential that they don’t want to get into other hands. Employers should also consider developing an internal policy on the safe upkeep of proprietary or confidential business information that is being stored on employees’ electronic devices while they’re travelling internationally for business. She said some employers have gone as far as wiping hard drives, storing items in their cloud services — even having employees travel with burner phones when in the U.S. “It makes sense to have a policy in place that sets you up for success.”

She also tells clients to Google themselves before they enter the U.S. to see what’s out there. For instance, she pointed out that if an employer sends a worker to the border to apply for a work permit and their LinkedIn page shows a different job title than what’s on the application, it could cause major issues at the border.

Every year, CBP releases statistics on electronic searches that occurred the prior calendar year, and in 2024, fewer than 0.01% of travelers experienced these searches, Agostinelli added. “We don’t have statistics yet under this administration, but I can tell you as an immigration lawyer who works along the northern border here in Buffalo, New York, and who has Canadian clients who travel to the U.S. every day, applying for work permits, coming to work and doing their international travel, we have not had a single case as a firm where one of our clients have had their electronics searched since the start of this administration.”

The top concern of this administration is national security and border agents are exercising the authorities they have to do just this, said Agostinelli. Still, it’s important that people stay calm, she continued. “These rules have always been in effect. If you have had a history of being able to enter the United States with ease in the past, you should expect that to continue. . . . If they’ve kept a relatively clean social media footprint, they should expect that they will continue to have success entering the United States.”