"A lawyer's spring break trip to the Dominican Republic with his family ended on a troubling note at Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday: He was detained by federal agents, questioned about his clients, and asked to give up his cellphone, he says.
But Dearborn attorney Amir Makled, who is representing a pro-Palestinian demonstrator who was arrested at the University of Michigan last year, stood his ground. He didn't give up his phone.
"I'm an American citizen. I'm not worried about being deported," Makled said he recalled thinking to himself in the airport interrogation room. "So, I tell them, 'I know you can take my phone. I'm not going to give you my phone, however ... 90% of my work is on my phone. You're not getting unfettered access to (it).' "
What followed was a 90-minute, back-and-forth verbal tussle between Makled and two federal agents, who, he said, ultimately released him without taking his phone, but looked at his contacts list instead. For the 38-year-old civil rights and criminal defense attorney, it was a daunting experience that he says highlights a troubling phenomenon that's occurring across the United States: Lawyers are getting targeted for handling issues the administration of President Donald Trump disagrees with."
