What's with the AZ-CA border?
 

When we crossed into CA on I-10 we noticed that there seemed to be what looked like a border check. What on earth? Why does CA treat AZ like a foreign country in need of some kind of border patrol? It seemed to be some kind of agricultural border patrol. Does the interstate commerce clause get tossed out the window? What's up with that? We didn't experience that in AZ when we were en route to Phoenix.

Also, we stopped in Blythe for gasoline and something to eat. What I didn't expect to see in the middle of absolutely nowhere was a drive-through Starbucks! With gasoline prices at $2.69/gallon for 87 octane, how do people in the middle of the desert afford $4 cups of coffee?

Last observation. On the AZ side, I-10 had those wondrous saguaro cacti on both sides of the highway looking just grand and majestic. Cross into CA and they are gone. What you have instead is irrigated farm land. It almost did seem like we entered a foreign country. :D

I've rarely driven into CA, usually fly, but isn't this SOP, something re: fruit flies?

There are sixteen border inspection stations for State Agricultural Inspection on major highways throughout California but due to budget cutbacks several of the smaller ones have been abandoned. Their mission is to protect our state's agricultural and natural resources against damage caused by exotic plant pests and diseases Since agriculture is such a huge part of California's economy, and is one of the world's greatest resources of food, the importance of protecting this industry makes some sense.

I found some interesting statistics, albeit a bit old. In 2000, more than 33.5 million private and commercial vehicles were monitored at these stations. Some 70 thousand lots of prohibited plant material were intercepted; these are typically infested with pests or not certified for entry into California. Reportedly some of the finds included the gypsy moth, imported fire ants, Mexican and Oriental fruit fly, musk thistle, and more.

The same checkpoints exist on the CA/NV border, but it seems like they are unstaffed more often than not.

It sounds like they are impeding on interstate commerce by these "inspections". Of course if they can't seem to get people to man these posts, perhaps the taxpayers don't want to foot the bill?

No, not at all, they're just protecting California commerce (agriculture) from infestations.

Analogize to the myriad of state laws we have about truck weights, and the weigh stations truckers have to go through pretty much any time they enter every state -- protecting the roads of that state. Same principle. I'm sure there are many other analogies.

I'm sure that's the logic that protects each states' wine industry and thus limits the free flow of business.

Huh??

Anyone has any doubts where this is leading?

mike

I also did this run for the first time this weekend--were you that idiot that kept slamming on brakes in the middle of the desert? ;) When we got to California, we had to come to a complete stop only to see that the station was closed.

I agree that Arizona had the more beautiful scenery. Well, except for the creepy windmill farm.

Actually you might be helping foot the bill :eek: since the California pest prevention program seeks federal funding
http://www.cacasa.org/pdf/FederalFundingProp04a.pdf

Where what is leading?

Are there border guards on the Texas/New Mexico border too? Does Wisconsin have a border inspections on its Illinois border? California isn't the only state dependent upon agriculture.

I think that El Cochinto covered this pretty thoroughly in his first post. Given CA's significant agricultural industry, I have no problems with border checks. 70,000 lots of prohibited plant material is a large enough number for me. CA is one of the few climates where certain crops grow well, and I've seen firsthand the impact on prices at my local grocery store when crops like lettuce and tomatoes are diminished.

I think we're down to only five ag checkpoints now because of the budget problems.

There are temporary inspection points (perhaps some permanent ones too - I don't know) that get set up in Southern California from time to time by the INS. I went through one of those last time I was driving around in the desert about two years ago.

There are/used to be checkpoints at the CA/OR border as well....

So what if a state wants to "protect" itself? The state of Western Australia, for example, is almost militant about what comes in from other states, with checkpoints at land borders, and "agricultural customs" for domestic flights from other Australian states. Flying in from Victoria I had an apple that would have been a no-no. Had to eat it on the plane.... Thus far WA has kept out many of the "dangerous pests" you'd find in other Aussie states.

More information on the USDA programs to fight the Medfly (fruit fly), one of the most destructive pests:


http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/f..._phmedfly.html


And here's what other countries are doing, too:

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfa...256EF50015A549


http://www.protectnz.org.nz/_mediter..._fruit_fly.htm


http://www.baha.bz/mediterranean.html

The "interstate commerce clause" has never been understood by thoughtful people as allowing absolutely anything to cross state lines. States are welcome to prohibit all kinds of items that would not be in the interest of the public health or safety to allow in the state. Hawai'i, for example, prohibits the import of snakes. There are no snakes in Hawai'i. There is no rabies in Hawai'i; thus the import of any animals are subject to quarantine. Is this unreasonable, or is it a recognition that goods and goals are often in conflict, and, moreover that actual public health and safety does and should trump?

This also seems to me an excellent application of conservative principles that so many in OMNI are always trumpeting: the state knows better than the Federal government what will be helpful in ensuring the state's health and safety.



Well said. ^

Commerce Clause Not Violated
 

The CA Border checks do not violate interstate commerce because they have been specifically authorized by Congress as part of an attempt to safeguard agriculture.

I am happy to hear that they are no longer being staffed, because they were quite ineffective, especially for personal vehicles.

Where'd you get that from? The five main ones are most definitely open and staffed.

I'm also not sure why you think they were ineffective. In 2003, these inspection stations confiscated 16,000 some lots of prohibited or pest-infested plants/fruits from private vehicles.

Every time but one that I've driven through the checkpoint, the staff waved me through without even stopping. The one time the car was stopped, they asked if we had any fruits or vegetables, we said no, and they waved us on.

That doesn't seem especially effective. Clearly, the system could be fixed by making everyone remove their shoes as part of the check. :rolleyes:

If you have California plates, which I'm gussing you do, it's highly likely you'll just get waved through. That's simply a matter of them selecting the vehicles most likely to be bringing in fruits/plants from out of state. If they saw an ice chest in your car and you had out of state plates, it would likely be a different story.

Don't give 'em any ideas. ;)

Needle in a Haystack
 

A few stations are still open, per other posters.

But if all it takes is one insect SOMEWHERE on a vehicle, then it's a lost cause. I'm not aware that (1) all "illegal" fruit was found, (2) all "illegal" fruit was a problem, (3) all cars were put through a washer to remove insects from tire rims and elsewhere, (4) oranges purchased in NV were grown in NV rather than being imported from CA, and (5) so forth.

I always tended to bypass the stations (easily done in most cases) just to avoid answering questions. Once, I was asked about firewood.

The main mission of the ag. stations appeared to involve produce truck inspections.

Indeed, a dirty car tended to get more attention, like after a transcon. road trip.

Now, before 1966, the stations handed out free CA road maps. That was nice.