Non-routine border search

When a border search becomes more intrusive than a routine border search it is referred to as a non-routine border search. For non-routine border searches, courts have reevaluated the individual and state interests involved and have generally required the government to possess at least reasonable suspicion to conduct such searches. That is because the Fourth Amendment balancing test survives at the border, and "the reasonableness of a particular stop must be gauged by comparing the degree of the intrusion with the grounds for the suspicion that intrusion is called for." For both inbound and outbound traffic, customs agents may conduct non-routine searches at the border or its functional equivalent, but only if they reasonably suspect the traveler is smuggling contraband and the search is limited in scope.