Thread: They say they are unwanted then harrassed going home

By RICHARD MAROSI
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, May 11, 2008 1:09 pm

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SAN DIEGO — U.S. border authorities no longer apprehend illegal immigrants only as they enter the country. Now they're catching them on the way out.

At random times on the Tijuana-San Diego border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have been setting up checkpoints, boarding buses destined for Mexico and pulling off people who don't have proper documentation.

The operation appears to be an expansion of a broader federal crackdown targeting illegal immigrants in jails, airports and workplaces across the country.

The checkpoints, which are not announced in advance, are set up on the southbound lanes of Interstate 5, about 100 yards north of the border.

Vincent Bond, an agency spokesman, said departing immigrants are fair targets.

"If our officers come upon people who are here illegally ... regardless of whether they're leaving the country, we detain them, make a record of the fact they were here illegally, and return them to Mexico," Bond said.


Recent targets
Immigrant rights groups and other critics say the new crackdown is a sad reflection of growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.

"The policies of the Bush administration are designed to make life so difficult for immigrants in the U.S. illegally that they're forced to leave. ... Now they're arresting people who are actually driving out of the country. ... Unbelievable," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a Washington-based immigration reform group.

But some Republican politicians and anti-illegal-immigration organizations praise federal authorities for widening their enforcement efforts. A spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said agents are simply doing their job. "Whether people are coming or going ... checkpoints are just another line of defense that targets illegal behavior," said Joe Kasper.

Customs and Border Protection, which typically provides detailed statistics on apprehensions, would not disclose details of the checkpoint operation. Nor would it say how long it has been under way.

The checkpoints have been randomly deployed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with inspectors typically looking for fugitives, stolen vehicles, weapons, drugs and other contraband.

Illegal immigrants became targets for arrest only a few months ago, according to immigrant rights groups and human rights organizations in Mexico. It's unclear how frequently the checkpoints have been set up. But Enrique Morones, president of the Border Angels, a San Diego-based group, says he believes hundreds of immigrants have been arrested since the crackdown began.

Over a half-hour period recently, agents appeared to be pulling over every bus and van heading for the border.

Federal agents say the checkpoints are a good way to stop dangerous criminals, drug shipments and money launderers.

The illegal immigrants they apprehend are typically turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for processing. Unless they have serious criminal convictions or long records of immigration violations, most are returned to Mexico within a few hours.


A 'bizarre' solution
Wayne Cornelius, director of the Center of Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego, said he's not aware of similar crackdowns in the past. The checkpoints make sense for intercepting contraband, but targeting illegal immigrants leaving the country is a "bizarre" way of handling the illegal immigration question, he said.

Other critics call it an enormous waste of resources and say it could be counterproductive and discourage immigrants from going home.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 70366.html

Other critics call it an enormous waste of resources and say it could be counterproductive and discourage immigrants from going home.

Puts an end to the revolving door so they know for sure the next time they will get put in jail and ends the confusion of whether or not they are criminals and not the usual story of mere "migrants" looking for work.

Puts an end to the revolving door so they know for sure the next time they will get put in jail and ends the confusion of whether or not they are criminals and not the usual story of mere "migrants" looking for work.

I agree..... finger print them.. do an Iris scan whatever... just put them in prison if they come back.... and they will!!!!

I believe this is a duplicate post.

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-114886-leaving.html


At least very similiar