(I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. God help you if you're a naturalized citizen in America today.) AIUI, no, CBP cannot deny American citizens entry.

(I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. God help you if you're a naturalized citizen in America today.) AIUI, no, CBP cannot deny American citizens entry. They can confiscate your phone (and probably never have to return it) or arrest you, but either way they also need to let you in. (Though if you're brown, and in certain areas, that arrest can pretty quickly turn into a summary deportation hearing where you have to prove your citizenship without access to lawyer or paperwork. In theory everyone involved would be in deep shit for an incident like that, but in practice they get presidential pardons.) Also, this article isn't about CBP policy.