> It just seems like US citizens think those charades are normal and don't question them. In my home country I can just deny getting my devices searched

What home country is that? Some places (UK I think is one) have less protection at the border for citizens than the US does. The risk of being searched for Average Joe is so small that most people don't even think about it. HN is disproportionately worried.

It's not the UK, which is similarly fu*d up as the US.