A Dearborn, Michigan, civil rights attorney claims he was targeted for questioning by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents after he returned from an international vacation.

Amir Makled says federal agents pressured him to turn over his cellphone while he was detained for roughly 90 minutes at the Detroit Metro Airport. Makled believes it was based on his representation of a pro-Palestinian protester who was charged during protests at the University of Michigan last year.

He said the incident was anything but random. It comes less than a month after the Trump administration directed the attorney general to hold lawyers accountable if officials believe they're violating laws or rules related to their conduct.

Makled says making it seamlessly through customs wasn't an issue when he returned from a vacation in Mexico back in December. Now he says he feels targeted and intimidated after being pulled aside for questioning under the Trump administration.

"Why was I stopped now? And I think it had a lot to do with the cases that I'm taking and representing individuals who are standing up for their rights?" Makled said.

He says agents from the Tactical Terrorism Response Team never gave a reason why they needed to search through his phone when he returned to the U.S. from a recent international spring break trip with his family.

"I said I'm not going to give that to you. I have privileged communication; I have privileged information, I have work product in my cellphone. There's no way you're going to do that," Makled told CBS News Detroit.

Reluctantly, he allowed them to look through his contact list but didn't answer any of their questions about specific people before being released.

He says the hour-and-a-half ordeal is concerning not only for his future travel but also for other lawyers who handle similar cases.

"I have to take a phone that doesn't have all my data in it and use that when I'm traveling abroad because that's the only time I can be confident that if I'm coming in through the border that they won't just take my device and dump it," he said.

CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham responded to the claims in the following statement:

This lawyer's accusations are blatantly false and sensationalized. Upon entering the country, he was flagged and referred to secondary inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. During the approximately 90-minute screening, officers worked to ensure attorney-client privilege was respected during electronic media search. He provided written consent to a limited search of his electronic device, and all actions were conducted in accordance with established protocols. He was then promptly released. Claims that this was an attack on his profession or were politically motivated are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas.    

Makled says tactics like these will ultimately hurt clients who, he says, deserve fair representation regardless of whether they're speaking out on social issues the Trump administration doesn't agree with. 

After his experience, he urges non-U.S. citizens to keep their travels within the U.S. or risk the potential of not being allowed back into the country.