Article: More Arizona Cops Harassing Travellers At Border Patrol Checkpoints
In this article, a man is stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint. He answers all of the immigration related questions despite not being legally obligated to. He does refuse to answer questions which are unrelated to border patrol since the Supreme Court rules that the scope of the stop must only be immigration. The majority opinion for United States v. Martinez-Fuerte states "The principal protection of fourth amendment rights at checkpoints lies in appropriate limitations on the scope of the stop" (Powell 566). With no probable cause, the agents direct him over to the side of the road to a place known as 'secondary' for further questioning. The Supreme Court has ruled that "Our holding today is limited to the type of stops described in this opinion. -[A]ny further detention...must be based on consent or probable cause. Our prior cases have limited significantly the reach of this congressional authorization, requiring probable cause for any vehicle search in the interior..." (Powell 567). At secondary, "a drug dog was used to search the vehicle absent consent" (Roadblock Revelations). The dog 'alerted' on the vehicle. Drug dogs have a failure rate of 85% according to a California study (Mower). The handler can also fake an alert with ease as shown in the visual evidence portion of this site. In any case, the car was searched and no illegal items or people were found inside. It gets worse. Arizona State Trooper M. Anguiano, badge #05915, approaches the vehicle and issues a ticket to the driver for violating 28-909(A)(1) of Arizona state law. 28-909 is a seatbelt violation. His reason for being at a Border Patrol checkpoint is unknown. In bitter irony, section (C) of 28-909 states "A peace officer shall not stop or issue a citation to a person operating a motor vehicle on a highway in this state for a violation of this section unless the peace officer has reasonable cause there is another alleged violation of a motor vehicle law of this state." The driver took this ticket to court and when Officer Anguiano failed to show up in court, the charge was dropped. There are so many things wrong with this story that it is hard to know where to begin. First, we'll focus on the fact that Officer Anguiano was even there in the first place. Since the Supreme Court stated that the scope of the stop is purely immigration, and Anguiano is not a Border Patrol officer, he has no business being there. His only reason for being there is to nab drivers stopped at the checkpoint with tickets so the State can receive money. He was not called there, nor was he on patrol and happened to stop by. He was there solely for the purpose of money extortion. The Federal Department of Homeland Security, of which the Border Patrol is a branch, issues grants as a part of the Homeland Security Grant Program to state and local police forces (DHS). In return, the locals give their obedience to the federal government and use the opportunity to lurk at the checkpoints to ticket the victims. This partnership is not for the betterment of civilian life but rather to strengthen the bond between federal and state level 'peace officers'. When the bond between these two entities is strong, it does no good for the average citizen but rather the citizens rights are more easily and efficiently stripped away. Many people in Arizona and many other southern states are upset because since these checkpoints are permanent, they have to pass through them on a daily or weekly basis. This negatively affects not only the citizens' satisfaction, but their wallet as well. Many people who hear about these stories do not want to visit these states and instead find ways to go around the states on their vacations or trips. This lowers the amount of tourism to these states and as a result, local business may suffer. But these checkpoints are not only in the south; there are numerous checkpoints in the north as well. These checkpoints are as far away as 100 miles from the border in some cases. I hope that the information here makes you question the purpose of these checkpoints if only for a minute. Many others are already questioning it too.