What Happens at the Border

TSA checks two things: the Terrorist Screening Database and active warrants. Being under federal investigation puts you in neither. You could be the primary target of a major FBI investigation and TSA wouldn't know or care. You board your flight without incident.

Customs and Border Protection is completley different.

CBP has databases that TSA never sees. When you return from an international trip, CBP can flag you for secondary screening. And in secondary screening, everything changes:

• They can detain you for extended periods without probable cause
• They can search your luggage, your phone, your laptop - all without a warrant
• They can question you about anything, including the investigation
• Everything you say gets documented and shared with the investigating agency
• Federal agents from FBI, DEA, and other agencies sometimes colaborate with CBP at ports of entry

The border is diffrent than the rest of the country. Fourth Amendment protections are weaker there. And if your under investigation, returning from international travel gives the government an opportunity to question you in an enviroment where your rights are limited.

But the real damage isn't what happens at customs. It's what happens later.

Your Trip Becomes Their Evidence

In federal court, the prosecutor argues you should be detained pretrial. The judge looks at several factors under 18 U.S.C. 3142 - the nature of the charges, your criminal history, your ties to the community. And your flight risk.

Flight risk isn't just about whether you own a passport. Courts look at travel history, international connections, foreign family, foreign business interests. Did you travel frequently before charges? Did you travel to countries without extradition treaties? Do you have resources that would let you disappear?

Pay attention to this: one defendant in a fraud case had traveled to Mexico during his investigation. The prosecutor presented that single trip as evidence he was scoping out escape routes. The judge denied bail. He spent a year and a half in federal detention before his case even went to trial. That's not an exaggeration. That's what happens.

The judge didn't see a vacation. The judge saw preparation. And under the Bail Reform Act, the burden shifts to you to prove you'll show up. Your travel history makes that harder.

Legal Pulse: Key Statistics

40%Dismissal Rate

of criminal charges are dismissed or reduced with proper legal representation

Source: NJ Courts Annual Report

15,000+Pretrial Diversion

defendants enrolled in NJ pretrial intervention programs annually

Source: NJ PTI Statistics

Statistics updated regularly based on latest available data

What We Do About This

We understand the instinct to live your life normaly. Your under investigation, not convicted. You haven't done anything wrong - or at least thats what you believe. Why should you cancel your vacation?

Because federal detention isn't vacation. Because watching your case from inside a facility is different than watching it from home. Because the person who stayed home for two years looks completley different to a judge then the person with fifteen international stamps.

Todd Spodek helps clients make strategic decisions during federal investigations - including whether to travel. We evaluate your specific situation, the nature of the investigation, the likely charges, and the factors that will matter at a bail hearing. Sometimes travel is fine. Sometimes it's catastrophic. The answer depends on details that require an attorney to assess.

The strongest evidence for bail release is community ties. Your job. Your family. Your presence. Not traveling during an investigation becomes evidence too - evidence that you're not going anywhere.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. If your under federal investigation and thinking about traveling, talk to us first. The call is free. The mistake could cost you eighteen months.

Were here when you need us.