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I-15 checkpoint south of Temecula may get more active



10:00 PM PST on Monday, December 21, 2009

By SARAH BURGE


After several months of quiet, the Border Patrol checkpoint south of Temecula on Interstate 15 has sprung back to life in recent weeks.

Border Patrol vehicles can be seen day and night bringing northbound traffic to a crawl on Interstate 15 near the San Diego County line.

At an October town hall meeting at the Border Patrol's Murrieta station, officials revealed the checkpoint had been operating infrequently -- if at all -- in the wake of the July 23 shooting death of a Border Patrol agent on duty near Campo. A number of agents from the southwest Riverside County area were redeployed closer to the border during the investigation into the agent's death.

A 17-year-old Mexican national pleaded guilty Nov. 20 to murdering Agent Robert Rosas during a robbery, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

Walter Davenport, commander of the Murrieta station, said that agents began to shift back to their regular assignments several weeks ago.

Now that more agents are available, Davenport said, they have been able to resume daily checkpoint operations.

"If we have the people and the time, we'll do it, because it's a good tool," Davenport said.

The revived checkpoint has prompted some curious calls to the news media and the local Border Patrol station from motorists unaccustomed to the spectacle of federal agents standing in the middle of a major freeway stopping traffic some 100 miles from the border.

Having agents stationed farther from the border around major routes such as Interstate 15 provides an additional layer of enforcement, he said.

In 2005, some members of Congress questioned how effective checkpoints, including the one near Temecula, were in curbing illegal immigration.

Border Patrol officials do not disclose when the checkpoint will be operating, but they take traffic volume and other conditions that might affect the agents' safety into consideration, said Agent Julius Alatorre, a Border Patrol spokesman.

Likewise, officials are vague about what factors prompt them to question a given motorist or inspect a particular vehicle. Alatorre said revealing those details could tip off smugglers.

Reach Sarah Burge at sburge@PE.com



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