Posted on 07/26/2005 11:48:02 AM PDT by radar101
Closing the Temecula and San Clemente checkpoints would improve the Border Patrol's chances of catching undocumented immigrants and seizing illegal drugs, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said Monday.
But Border Patrol officials said the interior checkpoints take criminals and illegal drugs off local streets while deterring smugglers from using major highways.
Traffic issues at the San Clemente and Temecula checkpoints stretch back a decade.In 2000, the Temecula checkpoint came under similar fire from motorists, who reported delays of about 30 minutes. The issue came to a head in 2004 when agents caused a 25-mile back up on New Year's Eve.
In 2004, Temecula agents set up a checkpoint on Interstate 10 between Arizona and Los Angeles and caught 134 undocumented immigrants in three days. Months later, agents caught 77 undocumented immigrants at a checkpoint on Interstate 40.
(Excerpt) Read more at pe.com ...
Issa, our very own terror lover
ping
Thanks for this and every ping!
What's your point. Having lived in CA for 35 years and having to drive through these so called checkpoints, I can attest to the absolute waste of money and the mass inconvenience it causes folks driving between San Diego County and Riverside and Orange Counties. I can drive between San Diego and Newport Beach in an hour and 20 minutes, or it can take me a half hour longer if the checkpoint on I5 at Camp Pendleton is operating.
If the government was serious about eliminating illegals from the US, they would be using these forces far more effectively. As these checkpoints must be closed down several times during the day in order to eliminate the huge back-ups in traffic that occur, the smuglers just wait until that time and then run their clients through, or they use the back roads around these two freeway checkpoints.
Meanwhile, in Arizona:
After a nine-month review of the border checkpoint situation, the GAO has issued a report concluding that not having a permanent checkpoint has reduced effectiveness in the Tucson Sector by 77 percent.
The GAO study indicates that apprehensions in the Tucson Sector dropped after the Border Patrol began relocating or closing checkpoints on a regular basis, in 2002.
We can thank Mr. Kolbe for that! Vote him out of office next year.
I don't know about all the inner workings of the border patrol, but why doesn't President Bush put Guiliani in charge of the border patrol. I know he is a liberal on social matters, but I'd be willing to bet almost anything that he would be great at cracking down. Is that even a possible option, or does the head of the border patrol lack the power it takes to turn around the operation? That may be a dumb idea, but hey, the situation isn't working out now as it is.
Agreed. I've been wanting these checkpoints shutdown for decades. Put the BP on the "Border".
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Minutemen Patriots ~ Bump!
I think President Bush has made it quite clear to America during his 4-1/2 year stay in the White House that he has no intention of securing our borders.
There is no reason for a "Border Patrol" checkpoint 90 miles from the border. Instead of violating peoples' 4th amendment rights just because they happen to be driving down the freeway, Border Patrol resources should be deployed at the border, where illegal immigrants do their crossing. There is no good reason to annoy and inconvenience tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens that far from the border!
Like another poster said, any smugglers or other bad guys with half a brain wait for the checkpoint to be closed before driving through. Just because the BP happens to catch a few idiots once in a while doesn't make it worth the hassle to the rest of us when it's open.
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