Christian Ramírez had just crossed back into the U.S. from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with his wife when they saw male border officials patting down female travelers.
Ramírez, a longtime border activist, instinctually took out his cellphone and began snapping photos. But he was quickly stopped by private security officials on the pedestrian bridge and soon after surrounded by a group of Customs and Border Protection officials. They confiscated his cellphone and deleted all of the images he had taken from the bridge, according to court records.
The 2010 incident became the basis of a First Amendment lawsuit that challenged the government's restrictions of filming and photographing near official border crossings. Ten years later — and after two dismissals and a federal appellate ruling — the case resulted in a settlement that forces CBP to acknowledge the rights of people to document activity in public spaces.
