Inland checkpoints by Border Patrol on Olympic Peninsula: 41,912 checked; 100 apprehended

[Newsjock]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/387081_border10.html

... Since the end of February, the U.S. Border Patrol has operated 53 roadblocks -- border agents call them "tactical traffic checkpoints" -- at the Anacortes ferry terminal, on state Route 20 near Newhalem and on U.S. Highway 101 on the Olympic Peninsula.

The statistics speak for themselves as to the effectiveness of the roadblocks:

81 illegal immigrants taken into custody;
19 people turned over to other agencies for state crimes; and
24,524 vehicles carrying 41,912 passengers checked.

... "How much are we willing to give up?" asks Lois Danks, coordinator of the Stop the Checkpoints Committee on the Olympic Peninsula. "Do we give up our freedom of movement and our privacy? If they stop thousands of people and catch 10 people who work in a Mexican restaurant, how much does that increase our security?"

Border Patrol Chief John Bates points out the checkpoints have been ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. And he says that his agents are simply carrying out their duties as defined by the law, which allows such checkpoints within 100 miles of the border.

[Kali]

1. gotta keep the homeland secure, doncha know

I am just now reading a nice series of papers on US-Mexico border fences/"enforcement" through history (general conclusion: USELESS)

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

2. They have been doing this in California for decades

When it is the Border Patrol and ONLY the Border Patrol I tell them they must be lost and to fuck off - when the police are there too I am slightly more polite but no more cooperative.

[RedCappedBandit]

3. idiots think this will stop immigration?

have they no idea the shit these people go through just to get here?

[bertman]

4. it's not about immigration. It's about an armed presence stopping Americans and getting

us used to that kind of bullshit Stalinist Hitleresque police state tactic.