Sidd Bikkannavar, a US-born Nasa engineer of Indian-origin was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) authorities, when he returned to America from Chile.
Besides being detained, the CBP also forced him to unlock his phone. The incident took place in the wake of a Trump administration that is keenly administrating the process of "extreme vetting".
US President Donald Trump suggests new immigration order to come next week
President Trump recently signed an executive order that will deny refugees and immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries to enter the United States. That order, however, has since been blocked by US courts.
The Indian-origin scientist had returned to Houston from Chile, where he had gone to pursue his hobby of racing solar-powered cars. He had left for the trip on January 15, when Barack Obama was still US president.
After being stopped his phone was taken away and the authorities demanded to know his phone password without citing a valid reason.
Initially Bikkannavar declined as the phone was issued to him by Nasa and contained sensitive information, but he had to give them the phone's access code when they wouldn't let him go. After having gone through his phone the CBP returned the phone to Bikkannavar.
This light-skinned man with long brown locks had already been enrolled in the Global Entry — a CBP program that allows individuals who have undergone background checks to have expedited entry into the US.
"Just to be clear—I'm a US-born citizen and Nasa engineer, travelling with a valid US passport. Once they took both my phone and the access PIN, they returned me to the holding area with the cots and other sleeping detainees until they finished copying my data", the Nasa scientist wrote in a Facebook post.
As a result of the authorities going through his phone, Bikkannavar's employees had to run forensics on the phone to determine what CBP/homeland security might have taken, or whether they installed anything on the device. He has since been issued a new phone and number.
After the incident Bikkannavar initially removed his Facebook account as he was unsure whether the account was also compromised by the intrusion into his phone and other apps.
According to Trump's administration, visitors and visa applicants to the US will be required to provide access to their social media accounts, including their passwords.
"If they don't want to give us that information then they don't come," homeland security secretary John Kelly testified in front of the House Homeland Security Committee on February 7.
