Stockton (CA) Mayor Has to Forfeit electronics and passwords to DHS Agents at San Francisco Airport

Stockton (CA) Mayor Anthony Silva attended a recent mayor's conference in China, but at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), agents with the Department of Homeland Security detained Mayor Silva and confiscated his personal cell phone among other electronics. “Unfortunately, they were not willing or able to produce a search warrant or any court documents suggesting they had a legal right to take my property," Silva said. "In addition, they were persistent about requiring my passwords for all devices.”

The mayor's attorney, Mark Reichel, said that Mayor Silva was not allowed to leave the airport without forfeiting his passwords. Reichel was not present for Mayor Silva's interaction with the DHS agents, either. The mayor was told he had “no right for a lawyer to be present” and that being a US citizen did not “entitle me to rights that I probably thought.”