Top DHS checkpoint refusals

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

Must we ALWAYS defer to State authority without questioning/challenging the validity of their actions?

Apparently not. Staying calm and reasonably respectful, while at the same time refusing to be jerked around,
seems to be the right tack with immigration.

[JBoy]

1. I loved the end

when the guy in the car pre-emptively asks the border guy if he's a US citizen, and where he's heading.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

12. I don't necessarily recommend doing that, but it was funny.

[rocktivity]

2. You forgot "Staying Caucasian."

You think a cop would have taken that from a black, Hispanic, or Asian?


rocktivity

[progressoid]

4. Yup. n/t

[sulphurdunn]

3. These are feds and as such

are more constrained by the law than local law enforcement. There are state and local police check points where you could end up in jail a hospital or a morgue for exercising your rights like these people did.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. I agree that state, big city, and small town...

...cops can be very dangerous depending on the situation, but I think politely refusing to answer questions or consent to personal or vehicle searches is something all citizens should do. It's not entirely without risk though -- standing up to tyranny never is.

[sulphurdunn]

23. Certainly we should standup to tyranny,

but doing that with a passenger holding a camera in broad daylight is different from being alone at a checkpoint with six cops, with no camera, at night. Whatever happened should you fail to comply, the legal system would take their word whether you were still alive to contest it or not.

[AsahinaKimi]

5. WOW..that was scary..

I am not sure I even want to travel any longer.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

8. Don't let them intimidate you Kimi, travel when and where you like.

[AsahinaKimi]

13. Well if I did travel it would be to

Japan..and I bet you can not argue with the TSA like that in an airport. They would have you locked down until they knew who you were. And, of course...I am Asian.. so, I am naturally suspicious.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

14. Crossing a border or boarding a plane they are...

... going to insist that you prove your identity and country of origin and I have no problem with that.

These checkpoints are within the US borders and these border cops are questioning people who are not
returning from a neighboring country or leaving the country. They have less validity here and some people
are choosing to challenge it. I support them.

Naturally suspicious? An Asian trait? Are you sure about that Kimi?

[AsahinaKimi]

15. I run into

Racism all the time on line, especially in chat rooms. One would think that I was in car, and came upon some of these checkpoints, I would probably be detained.

**edited to note, once some one asked me if I was from North Korea. Pffft. baka.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

16. Unfortunately we do live in a world where...

... racist attitudes are still very pervasive. I'm sorry you're sometimes subjected to it on line, or anywhere else for that matter.

[Sand Wind]

21. Lol North Korea....!

Somes take bad movies for reality .

[AsahinaKimi]

22. Yeah ...I guess thats what it is..

Like as if, North Koreans were sneaking into the country...to do EVIL things!!

ooooooooohhh Scary!!!

[jberryhill]

27. They will eat our snow.... and birds! on Tuesday

[Unknown Beatle]

6. About twenty years ago...

I was visiting a friend in El Paso, TX. One afternoon he asked me if I wanted to drink a few beers and of course I said yes. He said that there was a store about three blocks away and that if I minded if we walked, of course I didn't mind, so off we went walking.

On the way back from the store, carrying a twelve pack of beer each (yeah, we were planning on tying one on), a border patrol car suddenly stopped three yards away from us. Rolling down his car window, the border patrol officer (pig) starting yelling at us asking what our nationality was. Both of us were taken aback at his rudeness. I asked why he wanted to know, and he yelled, "BECAUSE I'M FUCKING ASKING YOU! THAT'S WHY!" I shook my head and wasn't going to answer but my friend whispered, "Let's just answer him and we'll go and drink our beer."

My friend first answered him, "American", followed by me, I hesitantly told the pig, "American".

The pig then yelled, "FUCK YOU BOTH! AS SOON AS I ASK SOMETHING, YOU DON"T HESITATE AND ANSWER IMMEDIATELY!" And off he sped off.

I was beside myself. I was so pissed that I yelled at him as he sped away, "FUCK YOU, TOO! ASSHOLE!" He heard me and slammed on his breaks. I thought, "Oh shit! Now what?" I just stood there waiting for him to drive back to where we were, but I guess he decided against it and drove away instead.

That night we got drunk.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

7. I've felt for a long time that the pre-employment screening process...

... for ALL vocations that involve a badge and a gun are sorely inadequate. Males
who badly want such jobs are very often the types who should never have them.

That border cop had no business bothering you and your friend. This is one area where a good
cell phone cam can really come in handy. Knowing that they're being recorded often modifies their
behavior for the better.

[tom_kelly]

10. I know I have the rights to do this...

I just wish I had the guts.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. You do. It's something you work up to.

[wundermaus]

17. Do not, I repeat Do Not...

fuck with the police.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

26. Funny, but hardly applicable here.

Nobody in the video I posted is being stopped for breaking the law, nor are they acting out in a threatening manner toward law enforcement.

[blackspade]

18. These checkpoints are ridiculous.

Another reason to avoid southern border states.

[Hulk]

19. If for nothing else....I LOVED watching this video.

I, and my wife who is Mexican, have been stopped and harrassed by the border patrol numerous times. Just like these bully Nazis, they try to intimidate and threaten us and hundreds of thousands of other Americans and visitors to this country. This IS a police state. I'm glad to see these filmers turned the table on them. I wish I could do the same.

My wife has her interview for citizenship on September 17th. When she gets her citizenship, I will NEVER allow those bastards to torment us again when we cross the border or are on the roads in America. This is STILL America...isn't it?

Just FYI...they took my wife inside...alone...refusing to allow me to accompany her...and interrogated her for TWO FUCKING HOURS; and then returned and interrogated me for at least another hour outside to be sure our stories of relationship matched and there were no inconsistencies in our story. Talk about Nazi-state! I was so God damned mad when it was over. I swore I would NEVER go through that again. NEVER!

Thank you for showing me this video. I will save it and review it for my next drive down to Mexico in November. I love the drive...I HATE the Nazis that work on the border. And they ARE Nazis!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

24. I'm sorry about the bad treatment...

... you and your wife have received a the US/Mexican border. That really sounds terrible.

I don't know what the formal complaint processes is, but it certainly sounds like you have grounds for making one. Also, I wonder if recording via cell phone cam all your experience at the border crossing might give them pause to throwing their weight around that way.

Please remember that these people in the video are refusing to cooperate with immigration checkpoints well inside US territory, NOT border crossing checkpoints. I don't know that it would be advisable to challenge them at a border crossing in this same way.

I hope your wife gets her citizenship without any trouble and you never have problems at the border again.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[kmlisle]

20. Drove through Texas to and from Big Bend Last Summer

And encountered two checkpoints a hundred miles or more form the border. I answered the question and continued on my way but was amazed to find them so far from the border. This video certainly puts it in context. Also I was advised when I entered the park to not give water to anyone I met in the desert and to immediately call immigration. Its actually in the literature for park visitors. How could you meet someone in that desert (temps in the afternoon were getting to 115) and not give them water. As for calling anyone there was no cell phone service in the part of the park I drove and hiked through. I carried extra water in my car since I was traveling through the desert SW and there is no way I could morally refuse water to someone in those circumstances. Park regs that could kill people be damned!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

25. My wife, our dog, and I ...

... took a road trip pulling a small travel trailer from Arlington, TX to Big Bend National Park in 2010 and encountered these same checkpoints. They are unnecessary and inconvenient, not to mention a huge waste of tax dollars.

Not so proud to admit it, but I was "Johnny Polite" and answered their questions respectfully. I'm Anglo, my wife Japanese, and our dog a sweet, gentle lab/pit mix -- apparently we aroused no suspicion nor set off any alarms as we were not detained or searched.

I don't recall being told not to give water to anyone we met in the desert at the park entrance, but it's possible they mentioned it and I just don't remember it.

Park policy that could jeopardize someone's life by instructing visitors to withhold water/aid from ANYONE in need of it is indecent, immoral, and should be illegal. What a shameful statement of policy.

Park officials should be dragged out into the sunshine and forced to explain themselves publicly on this one.