Muslim woman sues feds who kept phone 4 months

A Muslim woman from Staten Island is suing U.S. customs agents who seized her phone at the airport, copied her data and held the device for more than four months after she returned on a flight from Switzerland.

Rejhane Lazoja, said her iPhone 6 Plus and its SIM card were taken when she landed at Newark Airport in February by U.S. Customs and Border agents when she returned to the U.S. on Feb. 26.

Lazoja said that when the government returned the phone after 130 days, officials never explained why it was taken, and refused to destroy personal data they copied.

“When I came back to the U.S., I expected to be welcomed home,” Lazoja said. “Instead, I was questioned, degraded, and had my phone taken away. I expected better from my country and from customs officials.”

The federal lawsuit was filed along with The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group which has been outspoken on immigration issues.

“The Trump administration needs to understand that our border is not a Constitution-free zone,” CAIR-NY Legal Director Albert Fox Cahn said in a statement.

“As the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized, there is nothing more invasive than searching and copying the data on our smartphones. These phones track our location, our conversations and even our passing thoughts. Muslim travelers must not be subjected to this warrantless electronic dragnet simply for practicing their faith.”

Cahn said Lazoja, an American citizen, was with her 6-year-old daughter when she was taken to a separate room for a secondary screening. There, agents asked her for her cell phone, but she refused to give them the passcode.

He said agents confiscated the phone -- and kept it for more than four months.

Lazoja bought a new phone and even though her old phone was returned, she is afraid to use it.

A customs agency spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit, butg he said, “Keeping America safe and enforcing our nation's laws in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully examine all materials entering the U.S.”