Mass. immigration attorney sues after cellphone seizure at Logan

A Massachusetts immigration attorney has sued the federal government after Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations agents seized his business cellphone at Boston Logan International Airport on Sept. 28, prompting a federal judge to order a temporary halt to any search of the device. Andrew Lattarulo, who represents thousands of clients in immigration cases, filed the complaint in early October seeking the phone's immediate return, an injunction barring its search and an order requiring destruction of any material taken from the device, which his lawyers say contains privileged attorney-client communications.

According to the complaint, three uniformed CBP agents and one HSI agent waited for Lattarulo to disembark a flight from Aruba, surrounded him as he reached the gate and said they were conducting a border search. The suit alleges the agents did not present a warrant or a reason for detaining him. Lattarulo told the agents the phone was a business device containing confidential communications and provided his passport and bar card, the filing says. He declined to give his passcode and did not consent to the seizure. A family member recorded...