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When Amir Makled, a civil rights lawyer representing a pro-Palestinian activist, handed over his passport for review at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday, he was immediately flagged and led to an interview room for further questioning.
The federal border officers told Makled, a U.S. citizen, that they knew he was a lawyer with prominent cases, the Dearborn-based attorney recounted in an interview with The Washington Post. The officers told him he could either hand over his phone and passcode, or they would confiscate it and return the device back to him later.
Makled refused, and after nearly two hours, he said, he was allowed to leave with his phone. But Makled and other legal experts believe that his questioning is part of an alarming pattern of American lawyers facing retribution for representing clients whose interests conflict with President Donald Trump's agenda.
Makled represents Samantha Lewis, an activist who was arrested and charged by Michigan's attorney general in connection with a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Michigan. Lewis is a U.S. citizen and therefore not at risk of deportation, Makled added.
There's "no question in my mind that this was an attempt by Trump regime agents to intimidate Mr. Makled," said Patrick G. Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute, calling the situation an improper detention. "And in my view, if they tried this tactic in Detroit, they'll try it elsewhere if they think they can get away with it."
Hilton Beckham, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection assistant commissioner who also worked in Trump's first administration, confirmed that Makled was held and questioned, but said in a statement that his accusations are "blatantly false and sensationalized," calling his inspection "a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler."
"Claims that this was an attack on his profession or were politically motivated are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas," she wrote.
Since taking office, Trump has swiftly cracked down on individual law firms as well as lawyers more broadly who have sought to challenge his administration. Some Trump opponents have said they are struggling to find lawyers willing to represent them after the White House's directive to federal law enforcement officials to take action against attorneys or law firms that challenge the president's actions in court.
Makled said he also believes the incident, first reported by the Detroit Free Press, is part of the Trump administration's targeting of pro-Palestinian voices, especially those who are standing up for the right to protest.
"It's not about me," he said. "It's about creating fear. It's about making attorneys think twice before defending someone the government doesn't like."
Makled, an American citizen born in Detroit, was returning home from a five-day family vacation in the Dominican Republic with his 9-year-old twin daughters and his wife. After his photo was taken and he handed his passport for review, Border Patrol agents asked for a "TTRT" agent, he said, which he found stood for Tactical Terrorism Response Team.
After he was taken to an interview room, two officers dressed in plain clothes told him they knew that he was a well-known attorney, Makled recalled, and that he took on "high-profile cases" and did "good work." Makled said he responded that he was not famous at all and asked why he was being held. The two officers refused to provide their names or say whether they were working for the Tactical Terrorism Response Team, he added.
The officers then asked Makled to relinquish his phone and handed him a pamphlet outlining their right to confiscate the device, he recounted. Makled refused, repeating that he was a lawyer and had privileged client information on his phone. The agent then handed him a notepad, he said, and asked him to write down everything on his phone he believed to be privileged.
"That's a ridiculous request," Makled recalled saying. "I'm not spending the next several hours trying to figure out what's privileged and what's not."
At that point, he said, the agent left the room to speak to his supervisor. When he returned, he asked if Makled would allow them to view just his contact list but again did not provide a reason, Makled said. The lawyer agreed, acknowledging it wasn't privileged client information because it was a list without context rather than communication. He signed a legal pad consenting to the search of his contacts.
As the officer looked through his contacts, Makled said, he pointed out only clients of Lebanese origin, asking who they were.
"You're not going to be able to get information out of me," he recalled telling the officers. "Anybody that's in my contact list is somebody who's a friend, a family member, or an acquaintance or a client, and that's all you're getting."
The officers soon gave Makled his phone back and said they would write up a report, but he was free to leave.
Eddington said there have been varying decisions by circuit courts about the ability of federal agents to access a person's phone.
In addition to his representation of Lewis, Makled believes his trips to Lebanon, where he has family, could have been a factor. He was last there in September 2023.
Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said that Makled's interrogation raised alarm bells for those in the legal profession and that such behavior should "chill all Americans."
"Conservative lawyers should not have to fear disfavored treatment during a Democratic administration, and attorneys who represent left-leaning causes should not fear retribution during a Republican administration," Fitzpatrick said.
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