I, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent today

I was curious how long they've used dogs in Yuma for Border Control. Also - reading this article explains that fencing and other methods have slowed illegal crossings - so now more focus is put on drug trafficking.

-----------------------------

In the past, small-time drug users were busted occasionally. The Border Patrol has used dogs at its checkpoints for at least two decades, mainly for the purpose of detecting human cargo. But until a few years ago, it employed far fewer than it does now, which meant dogs were not routinely placed at the checkpoints near Yuma. Also, the checkpoints were often closed because fewer agents were available to staff them.

Since late 2005, though, the number of Yuma Sector agents has risen 55 percent — to about 850 agents, up from 550, as of January. Augmenting those agents are hundreds of National Guard soldiers who are part of a 6,000-troop border-protection plan called Operation Jump Start, ordered by President Bush in mid-2006.

The number of K9 dogs also has increased, to more than 30, up from four in 1999. The animals are trained to sniff out hidden human beings, marijuana, coc aine, methamphetamine, heroin, and meth-related drugs such as Ecstasy.

The beefed-up resources and the addition of more than 50 miles of fencing along the border south of the Yuma area have slowed illegal immigration in the sector to a trickle compared with what it was just two years ago.

These days, the checkpoints on eastbound Interstate 8 and northbound Arizona 95 near Yuma (a passageway to the I-10 and I-40 corridors linking Arizona and California) are open 24 hours a day. And with the addition of seven times more K9 dogs, they have become the biggest weed traps in the country.

www.phoenixnewtimes.com...

Originally posted by rightuos

I had my car sniffed by stupid dog's since 1993.

Right! So this is nothing new.

As I said - - they've received more funding - - increased personnel - - which enables them to do a more thorough job.

There was always at least one police vehicle at the border stations. If the border patrol now has authority to arrest - it really changes nothing.

Originally posted by rightuos
reply to post by anonamousantichrist

 

nothing was sidestepped...

again search by sniff (k-9) is exempt from the 4th amendment... if you have a problem with that take it up with the Supreme Court.

typical......

really, i'm not suprised one bit by your comment which is cool with me. i do not have to live in your shoes (thank the gods).

this "country" was stolen from it's rightful indigenous peoples, why would i lobby a court that is part of that?

if something is corrupt from it's inception, then nothing, NOTHING, can be considered just, righteous or lawful.

god i love it! many thanks for the laugh.

cheers,
AA

reply to post by anonamousantichrist


surprised? wasn't expecting it. Your still on a 300 year old argument so ... we will move beyond you, know worries most of America has already... good luck on that (giggles)

reply to post by 27jd


I am so truly sorry that you had to go through that and what you are going to be going through to fight this, I'm including a video of Steve Anderson whom I'm sure you have already heard of posted on this thread and it would really be smart to connect with him and his attorney for a possible class action law suit as I believe the more Americans that actually stand up and fight against these kinds of unlaswful searches and 4th admendment violations something will have to come of it.

I wish you tons of luck, it is clear to me that we will all be experieincing these kinds of treatment very, very soon and I am prepared to fight back with everything within me.

reply to post by Rams59lb


That guy is trying to cash in on his inability to say "American" he is the story the OP linked as an argument to his inability to follow law.

I'm with you in spirit to going against what we are told... but your looking to the WRONG guy for it.

Its not that much better here in Cal. Due to the lack of funds last week PD & animal control decided to dust off a law of how many & what sort of pet you can have within city limits.
They issued out tons of tickets. Turns out your not allowed more then 2 pets. Yes this mean if you have a pet rat & 2 pet dogs your now paying a ticket.
When I 1st caught this story I thought BS! Till... my neighbor good guy shows me his ticket for his sons Dog & his daughters 2 cats.
I was in shock.
So "SOME" people are seeking new ways to make money.
No matter if it is off the backs of those they are to protect.

reply to post by MrMtdew



Just about every city and town has an animal limit law. 14 years ago my family moved from the country into a small town. We brough with us 4 dogs and 3 cats.

3 days after we moved in we got a visit from a police officer who issued my dad a citation for to many animals within city limits.

There is a checkpoint about 50 miles east of El Paso on I-10 and the same thing there happens that the OP went through. I pass through it a few times a year and they let the dog walk the line and if it barks they ask you to pull over for further searching. If you ask on what grounds and actually stand up for your rights WHILE being polite they usually will then ask you if your a citizen and let you pass. In the past two years I have been searched less but when they insist to the search they don't let you go. Personally I think it is how cool you play it under pressure and how busy they are at the moment. I have learned that the best time is really early in the morning after 1am until the sun comes up. If you catch the shift rotation your going to be held up. If you have a van your almost guaranteed some sort of extra grilling.

well, this is not about having extra pets in the home. It's about the BP using dogs to sniff cars. Which for as far as I can remember, they have done. The OP doesn't thing it's constitutional under the fourth amendment. The US supreme Court disagrees, their take is that no personal information is given by a dog sniff. If drugs are in the vehicle then probable cause is given to search said vehicle. The OP says it's due to county giving the border patrol a right to levy a citation under the county laws. Basically somewhere someone had the idea that we could free up cops if we deputize these guys to write our tickets, in turn turning a normal border station into a proverbial cash cow.

[edit on 6-8-2009 by rightuos]

reply to post by rightuos



Really?

Thanks for that clarification.

I was responding to a post that mentioned it so you can take your wannabe mod attitude somewhere else.

Good! You pro-marijuana folks need to wake up and clean up. Haven't you had enough of a party yet? Grow up. Get straight. Stop traveling down the wrong road.

People better wake up to the attack on America. Drugs are not good for America. No matter how much you whine about it.

The drug attack is backed by Communists trying to destroy Americans one joint at a time. Haven't you ever wondered why the Communists push rap music so much? They want to brainwash you into thinking big booty and pot is cool. Get a clue.

reply to post by jd140


hmm... odd I was not even responding to you.

been kind of clapping to your responses in this thread... you drunk?

reply to post by rightuos


No, I started to ditch my chewing tobacco habit and its made me very pissy.

Figured the wife is gone for the week so this would be the best time to stop. My apologies for snapping at you.

reply to post by jd140


heh, it's all good no worries, if your quitting has you agitated just rip at me, I'm good at being the quitters punching bag

Just need to find a punching bag for myself when I decide to quit smoking... for real though I need an actual punching bag I think. I don't know what to do to quit, but I need to... bah for anoter thread I suppose

Originally posted by rightuos
reply to post by anonamousantichrist

 

surprised? wasn't expecting it. Your still on a 300 year old argument so ... we will move beyond you, know worries most of America has already... good luck on that (giggles)

you are nothing but a waste put here to slow down those that might be just a tad hurried on their path.

i would think that someone who makes such a tired, ignorant, utterly laughable comment about mass genocide would at least educate themselves.
you chose not to do that, and as a result have shown that you are not only close minded, but narrow minded as well.

to top it all off, you giggle hahahaha. must be tough waking up in the morning knowing that is all you truly have.

well, i'm moving on now. i hope your going to be ok without me to show you what is possible. anyway i have lost about 6 minutes i'll never get back to help you understand.

PS-no thanks on the offer for luck. you seem to need it much more than i.

cheers,
AA

Originally posted by 27jd
First, I would like to say that I do not wish this thread to be a discussion about drug use, and will not post any details as not to violate the T & C.

Today, I was on my way back to Phoenix (where I was born a citizen), after a very nice little vacation in San Diego CA. I've made this trip several times in the past, and have of course encountered encountered U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints on every trip. They always just waved you through, and if they had questions about your citizenship they verified and sent you on your way. That's the job they are meant to do. But that has recently changed, in Yuma county AZ.

The U.S Border Patrol checkpoint there, now has trained sniffing dogs that they run up and down EVERY vehicle traveling on Interstate 8 east of Yuma, intentionally to search for small amounts of drugs being carried on board the vehicles of American citizens on their way back from California. If the dog signals on your car as it passes, you are taken aside and your vehicle is ransacked, until they find what it is they are looking for. Then you are arrested, taken into a little trailer and given a misdemeanor ticket, then sent on your way, they don't check if your under the influence or anything, apparently they aren't concerned with safety. In ANY other circumstance other than Yuma county, the Border Patrol has no jurisdiction over citizens, but there they are given special powers that are unconstitutional and they perform illegal searches and siezures all day against US citizens that have done NOTHING to warrant having a drug dog run around their car, just returning from vacation. The way the law works is you have to do something wrong to get pulled over BEFORE you get searched. This is just a money making scam, but the implications against our rights can't be ignored.

Needless to say I am pissed, and I feel extremely insulted as an American citizen to have been arrested by the Border Patrol, and more insulted that the AZ government is allowing and encouraging this to happen to it's citizens just so they make more money in fines. I used to think AZ would stand up to the feds, but our government is on bed with them. I will definitely be looking into a lawyer, I'm not going to just pay my fine and take this injustice. I'm also going to be moving to California as soon as I can make it happen. I've had enough of this police state, it just gets worse and worse. I love the gun laws here, but the rest is not for me.

Here's an article I found when searching about the legality of this checkpoint...

The notion of a checkpoint where police can pull over every single vehicle and search it chills many Americans. Justice Clarence Thomas, no beacon of liberal thought, made that clear in his dissenting opinion in the 2000 case. Though Thomas felt compelled to side with the Indianapolis police because of court precedents, he challenged the basis of the precedents strongly.

"I am not convinced that Sitz and Martinez-Fuerte were correctly decided," Thomas wrote. "Indeed, I rather doubt that the framers of the Fourth Amendment would have considered 'reasonable' a program of indiscriminate stops of individuals not suspected of wrongdoing."

The new agreement with Yuma County blurs the distinction between drug and immigration checkpoints.

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office, like all other law enforcement agencies in the country, cannot legally operate a K9 checkpoint. But in Yuma County, Border Patrol agents are deputized to write local-jurisdiction citations — an end run around long-standing constitutional protections against stopping motorists without probable cause.
www.phoenixnewtimes.com...

More and more of our rights, constitutional and human, are taken from us EVERY day.

[edit on 4-8-2009 by 27jd]

[edit on 8/8/2009 by thegrayone]

reply to post by Paroxysm


Oh NO! They only cut the things people need. They do not cut money to fight "drugs." They do not cut their special interest money for saving the seals and such. They first cut all programs that benefit the public, especially poor people. Please take my advice and do not move to California, anyone who was able to left a long time ago, including businesses, a lot went to Nevada...

After 17 pages I still dont see the point of this thread.

So you are pissed that Border Patrol stopped you- because you are an American Citizen ? So what ?

You are NOT special !

Imagine all the Latino "citizens" who were born in this country who are regularly asked to prove their citizenship because they speak "mexican" !? Or all the black people who reguarly get pulled over by cops because they "look like trouble" ?

How does the peom go: "First they came for......"