When the Spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund begin in Washington D.C. next week, some European Commission staff will come equipped with special burner phones and replacement laptops issued specially for U.S. travel. The security measures, according to the Financial Times, replicate those the EC has previously taken when its staff travels to China. The aim is to protect European information from surveillance by a hostile country, which the U.S. under the Trump Administration has become, in the view of some Europeans.

A number of countries, including Canada, China, France, Germany and Denmark have issued new travel advisories for its citizens traveling to the U.S. Denmark is among the European U.S. allies who’ve warned transgender travelers about new U.S. policies that recognize only two sexes––male and female. Finland’s warning went as far as saying travelers could be denied entry into the country if the gender on their passport does not match that assigned at birth.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of University Teachers has told members to avoid any non-essential travel to their southern neighbor, especially if they’ve expressed negative views of the Trump administration, identify as transgender or research other topics that could be seen to be at odds with the Trump Agenda. (Along with transgender treatment, Trump has identified targets including the promotion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Palestinian cause.).

Such moves come after an increase in high-profile instances of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopping both immigrants and U.S. citizens and searching through their phones. In March, a French scientist on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research was denied entry at the U.S. border after immigration agents searched his phone and found messages critical of the Trump Administration. A Brown University doctor from Lebanon, who was about to start as an assistant professor of medicine, was denied entry, held for 36 hours and then deported because of photos found on her phone.

Just this past Sunday, a New Hampshire real estate attorney, returning from a weekend trip to celebrate Palm Sunday in Canada, was stopped at the U.S. border and had his email searched.

And earlier this month, a Detroit lawyer returning from the Dominican Republic, who happens to represent a pro-Palestinian student protestor, had his phone searched, despite his argument that it contained legally privileged information. Amir Makled, the Detroit lawyer, says he serves

a sizable Arab-American population and often advises clients on what to do if they’re stopped at the border. But before his own phone was searched, he’d never heard of this happening to an attorney. “I know that the Trump administration has been very clear about attacking law firms and lawyers,” he says. “I was included in that.”

Such incidents, as well as the rhetoric from the Trump Administration, has worried some foreign businesses and U.S. businesses with foreign employees. Client questions over whether or not to issue burner phones to traveling employees “is popping up,” says Leon Rodriguez, a Washington, D.C. partner in Seyfarth Shaw’s immigration practice and the former Obama-appointed director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Using burner phones within the U.S. is not common practice among employers, he adds, but it is used most often in fields that deal with sensitive information––those solving financial crimes, lawyers whose work information is protected by attorney-client privilege or even employees in high-tech fields that travel with commercially sensitive data.

Issuing company cell phones to staff is not a hugely popular practice in the first place, regardless of if they are considered “burner phones” or not. Only 15% of small and midsize business owners issue smartphones to all employees, according to a 2022 survey by Oxford Economics and Samsung, though 46% offer it to select employers.

There is no legal distinction between personal or professional devices when it comes to immigration law, especially at border points where constitutional protections against “unreasonable search and seizure” are weaker. That means that customs agents would still be able to search proprietary company information saved onto a phone.

Notably, customs agents can only search information saved onto the hardware, says Rodriguez, not information saved onto cloud services. But the Department of Homeland Security warned last week that it plans to begin screening for antisemitism the social media activity of those seeking student visas or to immigrate here.

“It’s not just the device issue, but the whole constellation of immigration enforcement activities has a greater potential to really affect U.S. businesses,” Rodriguez adds.

Mass deportations are worrying employers in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, where immigrants make up a large percentage of workers. (Though the Trump administration has been vocal about mass deportations, actual deportations have slowed year-over-year.)

Companies with highly-skilled workers on H1-B visas, among others, are worried about retaining their talent. A looming travel ban reminiscent of Trump’s first administration, has Rodriguez and other counsel advising clients to limit required company travel for those on employee visas should a ban be implemented while they’re abroad.