Judge rules US violated Palestinian American’s rights in phone search
The Cradle | July 17, 2026
A federal judge has ruled that the US government violated the constitutional rights of Palestinian American Osama Abu Irshaid after customs officials seized and searched his cellphone during two separate encounters at a US international airport in 2024.
In a ruling filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff determined that the phone searches violated Irshaid’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable government searches and seizures.
CAIR welcomes the court’s decision
Irshaid serves as the executive director of American Muslims for Palestine and is a US citizen of Palestinian descent.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which filed the lawsuit on Irshaid’s behalf two years ago, welcomed the court’s decision on Thursday.
The Muslim civil rights organization said in its lawsuit that the federal government had placed Irshaid on a watch list that was discriminatory and racist.
CBP agents conducted advanced phone searches
According to CAIR, US Customs and Border Protection agents twice seized Irshaid’s cellphone and carried out “advanced” searches when he returned to the United States from international travel in 2024.
At the time, the government denied adding individuals to any such watch list based on race, religion, or protected speech activities.
Rights groups have raised growing concerns in recent years over increased scrutiny of Americans with Middle Eastern, Arab, and Palestinian backgrounds, particularly over their political views, following Israeli genocide in Gaza, which started in October 2023.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Featured Video
Plans for a US Land Invasion of Iran; Yemen & Iran enter the War?
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
Babi Yar: The Einsatzgruppen Killings
By John Wear | Inconvenient History | May 19, 2018
One of the worst atrocities attributed to the Einsatzgruppen was the Babi Yar massacre, which allegedly occurred in a large ravine outside Kiev in the Ukraine. The allegation is that Einsatzgruppe C rounded up 33,771 Jews in Kiev and shot all of them over the period September 29-30, 1941.[1] German Reserve Police Battalion 45 and Police Battalion 303 are said to have assisted in the operation.[2] This article will examine the veracity of these allegations. … continue
Blog Roll
Aletho News- Judge rules US violated Palestinian American’s rights in phone search
- US blocks SSL security certificates for Iran’s Fars News Agency
- China denies interfering in US elections, calls Trump’s claims ‘entirely fabricated’
- Kremlin responds to US election meddling accusations
- Iran’s New Onslaught on US Gulf Bases Exposes Devastating Success of Spring Counterstrikes
- US strikes kill 38 across Iran, destroy Chabahar port control tower, bridges
- John Mearsheimer: All-Out War in the Middle East & Trump’s War on Russia
- German journalist says Israeli prison guards raped her to ‘break our will’
- Yemen to confront Saudi blockade militarily, official to Al Mayadeen
- Preparing for Regional Escalation: Iran Appears to Be Pre-Empting the US’ Attack Strategy
- If Americans Knew
- Palestine Letter: The school of Palestinian journalism
- Amid the ongoing genocide, Gaza’s food crisis worsens with closure of World Central Kitchen centers
- “Alligator Alcatraz” for Palestinian prisoners in Israel? – Daily Update
- Iran Sent Message to JD Vance Warning that Kushner and Witkoff Were “Abusing” Their Inside Access to Negotiations
- Inside the Pentagon Plan to Stitch Israel Into American Defense
- Rep. Ro Khanna: ‘Israel Has Lost Americans Under 50. Bibi Netanyahu Has Antagonized an Entire Generation’
- ‘They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention
- The not-so-secret Israeli strategy: This is the real Gaza plan
- Israel’s methodology in Gaza: “calculated chaos” – Daily Update
- Senators Block $1.15 Trillion Pentagon Bill Over Trump’s Illegal Iran War, Israel Integration
- No Tricks Zone
- New Study Highlights The ‘Dominant Role’ Of Aerosol/Cloud Interactions In Shaping Climate
- Munich’s First-Ever Green Party Mayor Declares First Ever City Water Use Restrictions… Fines Up to 50,000 €!
- Experimental Lab Research: The Climate Sensitivity To A 400-Fold Increase In CO2 Is 0.1°C
- Fatal Snobbery: In France, It’s Better To Die From A Heatwave Than To Do As Americans
- New Study: NASA’s Models Wildly Underestimate The Capacity Of Clouds To Alter Solar Radiation
- Polar Freezeover: Western Arctic Early July Sea Ice Exceeds 1980s Average
- Doing The Opposite: Studies Show Gigantic Wind Farms Significantly Warm The Night
- 120 Years Of Shortwave And Longwave Flux Analysis Show Ocean Heat Changes Are Unrelated To CO2
- +25°C …It’s The Exploding Global Urbanisation, Stupid! Why Heat Waves Are Setting Records
- Heat And Drought In Germany Are Nothing New, Archive Media Show
Aletho News 