To me the hypocrisy of the current administration on this issue is breathtaking. ICE runs roadblocks a long way from the border where everyone is stopped and whoever "looks" suspicious has to prove that they are legally present in the USA - and that include US citizens. No probable cause, not post arrest, just a plain old roadblock with guys with guns asking questions.
ICE has one in Vermont, on I-91 just south of White River Junction. Why they think they are going to find illegal immigrants there, in the middle of Vermont, is anybody's guess.
And we've got the President complaining that somebody in Arizona might have to provide ID while they are taking their kids out for ice cream. I guess he doesn't mind if we have to do that in Vermont, and unlike Arizona everybody gets stopped (although they wave most of us through since we, uh look like Americans), instead of just someone who already was stopped by the police based on some other probable cause. And in Vermont you can sit in the line of cars on the interstate for quite some time, waiting your turn to get inspected by the ICE guys.
Anyone who spends any time travelling the southwest knows that there are constantly “check points” on the major highways. We are in Yuma,AZ and run into ICE check points in almost every direction. I-10 down by the border in Texas is littered with them.
This is indeed the true irony of all this. We’ve sat in plenty of long lines just to get waived through, or quickly asked if we are citizens. No big deal, it’s just part of the landscape. Annoying but understandable and an inconvenience we are willing to endure if it means secure borders. What is infuiating is that the borders ARE NOT secure and these check points are a waist of time and money (and my over priced deisel).
So I have no sympathy for anyone who is “inconvenieced” by a lawful request for “paperzzzzz”.
Last May, Marines from Camp Pendleton were being bussed to Arizona for training. They were in an OD green USMC bus, all in uniform. The bus was stopped twice and checked by ICE. This gives them ‘stats’ to prove they’re not profiling. I know a commercial airline pilot who told me that TSA deliberately singles out white, often elderly people for screening. They document each screening so they can defend themselves against a profiling accusation. I thought “Shouldn’t they just be concentrating on keeping terrorists off airplanes?” Call me crazy, but staying ‘pc’ pulls alot of resources away from important jobs that we’re paying for that aren’t getting done.
I hate to quibble, but, that is CBP Border Patrol, not ICE, and those checkpoints are all over the southwest border area as well I go through one every day to get to work. By the way, yes, I’m positive it is BP not ICE.