Constitution-Free Zone Alive & Well!
Feb 13, 2018, 1:05 pm
#121
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,425
Yeah. "Your honor, I am not guilty of robbing that bank on the grounds that I don't presently intend to rob any more banks in the future..."
Feb 13, 2018, 1:13 pm
#122
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 11,513
Feb 22, 2018, 1:29 pm
#123
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,594
In The New York Times:
Under Trump, Border Patrol Steps Up Searches Far From the Border*
Excerpt:
*Permalink without a paywall.
Excerpt:
***
In Texas, a rancher has accused the Border Patrol of trespassing after he said he found a surveillance camera the agency placed on his property.
In New Hampshire, border officers working with state officials conducted what the American Civil Liberties Union described as illegal drug searches after residents were arrested at immigration checkpoints set up on a major interstate highway. One of the checkpoints was set up just before a local marijuana festival.
And recently in Florida, New York and Washington State, Border Patrol officers have been criticized for boarding buses and trains to question riders — mostly American citizens — about their immigration status.
***
In Texas, a rancher has accused the Border Patrol of trespassing after he said he found a surveillance camera the agency placed on his property.
In New Hampshire, border officers working with state officials conducted what the American Civil Liberties Union described as illegal drug searches after residents were arrested at immigration checkpoints set up on a major interstate highway. One of the checkpoints was set up just before a local marijuana festival.
And recently in Florida, New York and Washington State, Border Patrol officers have been criticized for boarding buses and trains to question riders — mostly American citizens — about their immigration status.
***
Jun 18, 2018, 11:41 am
#124
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,425
Updating this thread with a new CBP bus sweep incident that occurred June 7, at the Cali-Nevada border. From the ACLU. One courageous passenger stood up to the CBP:
Border Patrol agents boarded the bus and started to ask the passengers for their “documentation.” Ms. Smalls stood up again and shouted, “You have NO RIGHT to ask me for anything! This is harassment and racial profiling! We are not within 100 miles of a border so [these agents] have no legal right or jurisdiction here!”
Ms. Smalls’ simple and courageous act of resistance was enough. The Border Patrol agents, realizing that they would face an uphill battle, immediately retreated, telling the driver to continue on.
Ms. Smalls’ simple and courageous act of resistance was enough. The Border Patrol agents, realizing that they would face an uphill battle, immediately retreated, telling the driver to continue on.
Jun 18, 2018, 4:52 pm
#125
Join Date: Feb 2017
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Posts: 2,994
Updating this thread with a new CBP bus sweep incident that occurred June 7, at the Cali-Nevada border. From the ACLU. One courageous passenger stood up to the CBP:
Jun 18, 2018, 6:25 pm
#126
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Radisson Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 3,621
Updating this thread with a new CBP bus sweep incident that occurred June 7, at the Cali-Nevada border. From the ACLU. One courageous passenger stood up to the CBP:
Jun 18, 2018, 6:48 pm
#127
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,578
Maybe it was ICE rather than CBP. I don't know if CBP's statement of denial covers that possibility.
Or maybe it was an actual state agricultural inspector, and the bus driver erroneously referred to him as "border patrol". Those inspectors don't search every vehicle, they just pick at random, so perhaps he decided that this bus wasn't worth it.
Jun 18, 2018, 8:06 pm
#128
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: An NPR mind living in a Fox News world
Posts: 14,160
I suppose it's possible the whole thing is fabricated, but I doubt it. I also doubt it could have happened anywhere else, because people generally know what bus they are on and where it's going.
Maybe it was ICE rather than CBP. I don't know if CBP's statement of denial covers that possibility.
Or maybe it was an actual state agricultural inspector, and the bus driver erroneously referred to him as "border patrol". Those inspectors don't search every vehicle, they just pick at random, so perhaps he decided that this bus wasn't worth it.
Maybe it was ICE rather than CBP. I don't know if CBP's statement of denial covers that possibility.
Or maybe it was an actual state agricultural inspector, and the bus driver erroneously referred to him as "border patrol". Those inspectors don't search every vehicle, they just pick at random, so perhaps he decided that this bus wasn't worth it.
Jun 19, 2018, 12:23 pm
#129
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,425
OTOH, the ACLU looks to be making a lot out of a little, with no corroboration other than Smalls' story. What I can't figure out is why Greyhound is complicit with these sweeps. You'd think it would be bad for business. One wonders whether the federales threatened the company in some way as to obtain permission to board their busses.
Jun 19, 2018, 1:04 pm
#130
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
The only Agricultural station along I-15, according to the state website, is at Yermo, just outside of Barstow, a good 100 road miles from the state line.
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/PE/Ext...rders_map.html
And several commenters on her post state that they drive that route on I-15 often and the only ag checkpoint is the one in Yermo which was constructed in the 1960s. Also, access to the ag checkpoint is only from the southbound lanes of I-15 which is opposite her direction of travel.
Being way off on a key point (where the alleged incident took place) doesn't really help credibility in my mind.
It also seems odd that CBP would make a public flat-out denial if they in fact had attempted to ask for papers or whatever on that bus.
I'm skeptical that it happened as she states, absent corroboration from others who were there (I'm not skeptical that similar incidents take place elsewhere within the 100 mile zones, though, nor do I agree with same).
Last edited by 84fiero; Jun 21, 2018 at 6:51 am
Jun 20, 2018, 7:04 pm
#131
Join Date: Jan 2009
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OTOH, the ACLU looks to be making a lot out of a little, with no corroboration other than Smalls' story. What I can't figure out is why Greyhound is complicit with these sweeps. You'd think it would be bad for business. One wonders whether the federales threatened the company in some way as to obtain permission to board their busses.
I was on a Turimex bus from Monterrey to San Antonio a month ago and we were stopped well after entering Texas, closer to San Antonio, within the 100 mile zone. The agents boarded and asked all the Meixcan looking people for ID. They asked me if I'm a US citizen. I don't think the bus drivers can refuse to let them on and just drive through the checkpoints.
Jun 21, 2018, 5:42 am
#132
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
OTOH, the ACLU looks to be making a lot out of a little, with no corroboration other than Smalls' story. What I can't figure out is why Greyhound is complicit with these sweeps. You'd think it would be bad for business. One wonders whether the federales threatened the company in some way as to obtain permission to board their busses.
Congress created this border zone as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1946. The law granted immigration agents the authority to "board and search for aliens any vessel within the territorial waters of the United States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle." However, they could only do this "within a reasonable distance" from an external US boundary.
At first, that distance was just 25 miles. But in 1953, the Department of Justice published a rule redefining a reasonable distance to "a distance of not exceeding 100 air miles of any boundary of the United States."
At first, that distance was just 25 miles. But in 1953, the Department of Justice published a rule redefining a reasonable distance to "a distance of not exceeding 100 air miles of any boundary of the United States."
Jun 25, 2018, 8:22 pm
#133
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 245
I was on a Turimex bus from Monterrey to San Antonio a month ago and we were stopped well after entering Texas, closer to San Antonio, within the 100 mile zone. The agents boarded and asked all the Meixcan looking people for ID. They asked me if I'm a US citizen. I don't think the bus drivers can refuse to let them on and just drive through the checkpoints.
Jun 26, 2018, 12:13 am
#134
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Jun 26, 2018, 9:48 am
#135
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 245
Watch: Border Patrol Officer Asks Maine Bus Passengers 'Are You Folks U.S. Citizens?' While They Wait in Line
