The government's position is that the rights that one has in an encounter with law enforcement don't apply in the same way during an admissibility or customs inspection prior to admission to the U.S. For example, they say that one does not have the right to assistance of counsel during these inspections.
Jacob Appelbaum tweeted a lot about how he used to get stopped and questioned when entering the U.S.; they apparently never granted his request to have the assistance of a lawyer during these events.
One difficulty is that the government's view is that refusal of admission to the U.S. (the border equivalent of deportation) is not in the same conceptual category as a criminal punishment. In fact, in their view it's not a punishment at all, just a core sovereign act of the state.
I worked with some lawyers to write a guide about border searches of electronic devices. One question that comes up a lot is whether there's a fifth amendment right to silence during a border inspection (whether about one's possessions generally, or about one's passwords). My recollection is that the lawyers I was working with considered this question somewhat unresolved. A common assumption has been that U.S. citizens and permanent residents will eventually be admitted even if they are uncooperative with an inspection, but they might be detained temporarily and their possessions might be seized in some circumstances. People who don't have either legal status might be refused admission (right then and also in the future!) as a punishment for declining to answer questions, but the government might argue that it's not a punishment at all.
Maybe I should emphasize that this is my recollection of what some people thought was likely to happen, and not a legal analysis of caselaw or an individual legal situation.
Jacob Appelbaum tweeted a lot about how he used to get stopped and questioned when entering the U.S.; they apparently never granted his request to have the assistance of a lawyer during these events.
One difficulty is that the government's view is that refusal of admission to the U.S. (the border equivalent of deportation) is not in the same conceptual category as a criminal punishment. In fact, in their view it's not a punishment at all, just a core sovereign act of the state.
I worked with some lawyers to write a guide about border searches of electronic devices. One question that comes up a lot is whether there's a fifth amendment right to silence during a border inspection (whether about one's possessions generally, or about one's passwords). My recollection is that the lawyers I was working with considered this question somewhat unresolved. A common assumption has been that U.S. citizens and permanent residents will eventually be admitted even if they are uncooperative with an inspection, but they might be detained temporarily and their possessions might be seized in some circumstances. People who don't have either legal status might be refused admission (right then and also in the future!) as a punishment for declining to answer questions, but the government might argue that it's not a punishment at all.
Maybe I should emphasize that this is my recollection of what some people thought was likely to happen, and not a legal analysis of caselaw or an individual legal situation.