She has nothing to hidenot underneath her blue sweater vest or in the panels of the car. Tags: facility. A Hudspeth County deputy arrived on the scene wearing rumpled khakis and a big Texas grin, the very picture of a jolly policeman. To find out more, please review our Privacy and Cookies Policy. Border Patrol representatives will tell you very earnestly that the floodgates are essential for our maintenance of the wall and to be in compliance with our treaty obligations. document.write(year) Parallel anti-checkpoint movements are drawing an odd collection of bedfellowsconservative ranchers, comfortable retirees, reclusive libertarians, and liberal activistswho are linked by one basic contention. The agents themselves can be on edge. The letter details alleged violations of U.S. citizens constitutional rights at six interior federal immigration checkpoints in Arizona. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. mon insisted they crack it open, whereupon they found half a pound of pot that Spike had smelled through the battery acid. Of the 650 agents assigned to the Big Bend sector, which is geographically the largest along the U.S.-Mexico border, perhaps 40 were on duty at the checkpoint during my stay on the bench. overwhelming a system that can barely take care of American citizens to begin with. DANA COLE HERALD/REVIEW Subscribe for $3.50/week You have permission to edit this article. The last thing in this world I want to be is a pothead hero, he said. Is Biden A 'Manchurian President,' Facilitating Nuclear Cooperation between Iran's Mullahs and Russia? The Sierra Blanca checkpoint, which is located in the Border Patrols Big Bend sector, busts around 2,500 people per year, and most of them are hapless potheads like myself. As an elected official, West has a politicians knack for the spotlight. checkpoints and their impact on neighboring communities by the end Locations of the 11 Border Patrol checkpoints in Tucson Sector: 2nd Border Patrol checkpoint to get canopy, lane upgrades. Some pop up and disappear on short notice. many from Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca who use the highway to Lopez is one of the patients who took a chance and accepted a ride from family friends to Phoenix. The evidence room of the Hudspeth County jail is a potheads treasure trove. it's going from one lane to two because it will shorten their wait Let us know what's going on! Undocumented Latinos organize their lives around the checkpoints, which now intercept every major road in southern Arizona. They spoke to him like family, my friends. The Arizona checkpoints started springing up suddenly in early 2007 when Congress funded them after years of resistance from an Arizona politician. jail is a potheads treasure trove. Family US Border Patrol Checkpoint talk at Sierra Vista, AZ Immigration Inspection GOPR0105 . And this had a curious result. Five miles West of Sierra Blanca, " reads one bulletin on the " Routes to Avoid - Border Patrol Checkpoints " Google map. She catches a glimpse of Border Patrols foldout chairs near a white trailer. White fluorescent lights towering overhead cast beams inside her Dodge. The octogenarian county attorney, Kit Bramblett, who has no jurisdiction in federally initiated criminal cases, suggested Willie pay for his crime by singing Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain in the old adobe courthouse. She promptly squatted, the signal to her handler that the vehicle smelled suspicious. The radiological detection devices? Increasingly over the past ten years, West and his dozen deputies have been overwhelmed by a steady flow of small-time potheads arrested at the checkpoint. Or maybe it is just that I am not well informed about what is going on in the US, since I am writing from Guatemala, but the view from this latitude is that, apparently, Americans have lost all interest in defending their country and their culture from ideologies that, just a few months ago, were considered incompatible with the values of the Republic. They probably weighed the container along with the dope. This sounded just plausible. patrolling so far north of the international line. because it's not close to as many residential areas as the I-19 That might be A frontier war is being waged in southern Arizona, but its many miles north of the Mexico border. Such is the reality of operating a state-licensed cannabis business in the southernmost reaches of California . The Biden administration has ordered the termination of all work. Two teachers face long prison sentences for educating Baha'is, who are banned from pursuing further education in Iran. The woman blinked back tears. Our mission is to keep bad people and bad things out of the country, Huffman told me. The same case is cited in arguments that Border Patrol is exceeding its legal mandate. I see that my friends, my family are questioned and judged without reason, just for being Latino. Officials say a decrease in the number of migrants arriving at the border has allowed for agents to return to the posts. The agent led me to the checkpoint office, a modest little vinyl-sided prefab structure (the Sierra Blanca station predates the whopping budgets that national security commands these days). According to West, when he showed this room to Willie, the pothead king exclaimed, Whoa! And yet despite his hard-ass theories about border security, he takes an extremely dim view of the so-called drug war. The first was completed in March Arizona 85 south of Gila Bend, Passement said. A lock ( The "best" thing Mexico has going for it is the "efficiency" of the drug cartels. Perhaps Biden's border legacy will be another type of 9/11 attack, launched across his now virtually non-existent border with Mexico? Sierra Blanca Station. There are scores of similar stories, like the dog that sniffed marijuana packed in plastic and hidden inside factory-sealed number-ten cans of jalapeo peppers. While the Border Patrol has long contended that permanent The Arizona 90 checkpoint is about 30 miles north of the border. The suspect, 43-year-old Joel Harnage, was arrested just before 8 p.m. when he attempted to pass through the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 90, north of Sierra Vista. Snoop Lion), Fiona Apple, Nelly, Armie Hammer (the actor who plays the new Lone Ranger)all made news after their vehicles were searched at the checkpoint and dope was discovered. Example, Biden would first have to admit that he made a horrible mistake and then take steps to reverse the process. Many residents of Mexican origin believe they are routinely profiled when they are stopped at a checkpoint and asked to present identification. Up near the top of one stack I noticed a box with case number 10-2034 stenciled on the side, next to which someone had scrawled Willy. I couldnt help wondering what the contents might weigh. This is all a part of what locals call the checkpoint fanning out effect: Undocumented or possibly dangerous smugglers, rebuffed by checkpoints, filter out into surrounding communities. They paused at the checkpoint and rolled down the window to greet a Border Patrol agent. The detention and standoff with a Border Patrol agent landed him disciplinary action at work. The Kingsville Station's area of responsibility encompasses 1,932 square miles of South Texas' Kenedy and Kleberg Counties. The checkpoint fighters in Arizona rage against several targets. The International border area of Arizona was originally patrolled by mounted guards from 1904 until July 1, 1924. Those facts are true, but they have absolutely nothing to do with why the gates are open now. Agents may enter onto private land without a warrant within 25 miles of the border. One of the agents held up the plastic vial, and another made a gesture like a football referee signaling a personal foul. An official website of the United States government. Where do you live? Gatestone Institute is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, Federal Tax ID #454724565. checkpoint going up on Arizona 90, Passement said. Thats what they gave us last year, and we had to fight like hell to get it.. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. She has to cross a checkpoint and will have to defend what she will never be able to conceal: her Mexican roots. Then he offered to show me the evidence room. Find 6 Border Patrol Offices within 44.9 miles of Sierra Vista Arizona Border Patrol. So far, the council has received signatures of about 600 of the towns population of 1,000. EVEN BY THE LONESOME STANDARDS OF WESTTexas, Hudspeth County is a bleak and windy expanse. Wray now nears the checkpoint, for the second time today. There are a few other people like Bressi across the southwest: white, middle-aged men who keep steady jobs, are American citizens, and feel secure enough to routinely take a stand against checkpoints. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Today might be a lucky day. All rights reserved. You keep me motivated to fight! flanking areas and neighborhoods. Arizona 86, milepost 144.5, west of Three Points. Al Reinert is a contributing editor toTexas Monthly and a documentary filmmaker whose most recent movie is An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story. It stretches more than 120 miles from corner to corner, yet just 3,500 humans reside in it, and probably less than half that number of trees. There is the Border Patrol, swelling in its ranks and funding, facing accounts of corruption and poor treatment of civilians. Its made up of nine stations that are broken down into three corridors. Work was not completed. And many border-area residents question why the Border Patrol is They wore jeans and scruffy T-shirts and didnt appear to be celebrities. A curious visitor from a peaceful foreign country driving around the state who happened upon a checkpoint for the first time might well wonder, on the basis of the cursory questions and inspections, why, exactly, the checkpoints are present. But Arizona is the only The surge of unaccompanied children and families to the southern border -- as well as the surge of non-marijuana drug trafficking across the border -- is a humanitarian crisis, a health crisis and a national security crisis. At this same time, the manpower at Tucson station increased from two patrol inspectors to four and a new station with two patrol inspectors was opened in Casa Grande, Arizona. Arizona 83, milepost 40.8, north of Sonoita. Snoop Dogg (a.k.a. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. About a third of Arivaca residents have signed a petition to close the checkpoint. Click Share This Page button to display social media links.