From the Detroit Free Press...

TRAFFIC CHECKS: Random stops begin today in Michigan

November 12, 2002


BY TAMARA AUDI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Federal agents will begin randomly stopping traffic today, looking for illegal immigrants, terrorists and drug or weapon smugglers.

Cars will be stopped at unannounced, rotating checkpoints within Michigan, including metro Detroit. U.S. Border Patrol agents at the checkpoints will ask passengers their citizenship and will have leeway to ask a host of follow-up questions.

The effort is part of President George W. Bush's attempt to increase security along the northern border, said Immigration and Naturalization spokeswoman Karen Kraushaar.

According to an obscure but long-standing federal law, the government can conduct searches and surveillance within 25 miles of any international border.

The practice of internal checkpoints is common in Texas and California, states along the southwest border.

Michigan is among the first of the northern border states to be included in the program.

Though agents will focus on finding undocumented immigrants, the checkpoints on the southern border have helped net drugs and weapons, patrol agents and officials said.

"Those checkpoints would yield quite a few arrests," said Robert Lindemann, vice president of Michigan's border patrol union and a patrol agent in Detroit. Lindemann used to work checkpoints near the southern border. "We got drugs, we got aliens, we got convicts. The checkpoints on the southwest border are critical."

In Michigan, federal officials hope the checkpoints will also help them catch terrorists.

"The terrorism component cannot be ignored in addressing border security," Kraushaar said.

Lindemann and other agents said it's too soon to tell how successful the checkpoints will be. One feature that is bound to carry over from the southern border is traffic, they said. Checkpoints cause back-ups.

Federal officials would not say Monday how many checkpoints there will be, or how often Michigan drivers can expect to be stopped. More details on the program are to be released at a news conference in Kimball Township today.

Meanwhile, civil liberty groups raised concerns.

"We believe it's going to be very hard for them to do this without violating people's civil rights, or profiling people based on their ethnicity or accent," said Kary Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan.

U.S. citizens are not required to carry proof of identification with them while traveling in the country. Alien residents are required to carry some paperwork.


Anyone who has dark hair and dark eyes watch out...

Yes you do. And W's little war on terrorism will give him more and more reasons to let him control you. And Americans are accepting it.

soulpower said:

Yep...I agree...and how did I know you'd respond to this thread? I must be psychic...

Detroit isn't within 25 miles of the Canadian border, so i wonder how they got around that.
I don't know if we're under a full-fledged police state quite yet, but we're definitely heading down that road. Either way, until people wake up and smell the coffee, we are going to be seeing more and more of this type of legislation -under the guise of 'security'- in every major city in the US. The appointment of more conservative judges and the passage of a 'Homeland Security' bill will only serve to encourage this type of first amendment violation.
But when we get roughly 50% of the population voting, obviously the other half don't give a shit what happens.

mrchristian said:

Detroit is a less than a mile from the Canadian border. Ontario, Canada is just across the Detroit River. It takes less than 15 minutes for me to get to Canada from my home. Also, Dearborn, Michigan has the largest Arabic-speaking population outside of the middle east. So, I think that's why we're being targeted.
I totally agree with you...people DO need to wake up. It's very scary that this conservative government is using the, as you said, guise of 'security' to violate the very liberties and freedoms they are claiming to protect.

applekisses said:

Because I live in a country that once was a police state. Pretty much like yours is today.

applekisses said:

Thanks for the info on Detroit's geography, i should've known that. Now i'm wondering if any other cities that border Canada or coastal cities will come under the same kind of scrutiny.

It's either this or get anthraxed.

I can deal with the Feds asking me to show my drivers license. It's part of my duty as an american.

Just look at me fer christs sake. I could pass as an arab!

WHERE'S MY HAREM!??!

We are well on our way because people feel they need big brother to protect them.Once this "terrorism" thing blows over people are going to realize they sold their soul.In a few years you won't be able to take a shit without having to verify it's yours and having someone check it for something illegal.

Dauphin said:

It is widely known that the anthrax mailings you're referring to came from Americans, mostly right-wing nutcases, as almost all the anthrax envelopes or hoaxes were sent to Democrats like Tom Daschle and Al Gore. It wasn't widely reported as such, but friends of mine who are lobbyists in DC were very much aware of it.

mrchristian said:

No prob, hun, you're welcome. I've got another little Detroit/Canada bit of trivia for you...Detroit is the only place in the continental US where you actually have to travel south to get to Canada
Also, I do believe that other states that border Canada will be subjected to this as well. I think they started with Detroit because of our massive middle eastern population.