Where is the checkpoint in texas located

However, she said she called Sheriff Martin Cuellar who had informed her that the checkpoints had closed but were already reopened. According to Zaffirini, based on the information available to her, the decision to close the checkpoints were made in response to the influx of migrants living in dangerous conditions at the Del Rio International Bridge.

She added that she does not believe the CBP would have reassigned officers and closed the checkpoints if they had not deemed it necessary for the safety and security of those in Del Rio.

State Rep. From the Border Patrol perspective, one of the few who did comment on the situation was Garza. And the president of the National Border Patrol Council stated that the checkpoints have closed in the past due to vehicle accidents or construction, but this was the first time they closed for an issue regarding migrants.

Garza stated that he believes drugs and people were probably smuggled in during that time frame as people found out that these areas of inspection had been closed.

It was all of the checkpoints in the Del Rio sector and all of the checkpoints in the Laredo sector. Zaffirini, however, said that no elevated threat was detected due to the few hours in which the border checkpoints were shut down, despite the assumption they might have allowed for the criminal element to take advantage of the sudden situation.

Several Laredo area Border Patrol agents continue to work in the Del Rio sector to help with the surge of migrants. Garza said he has stayed up to date with them regarding the situation. Many people along the US-Mexico border consider the checkpoint at Falfurrias the real border. Families can spend a lifetime in Hidalgo county, where I live, and get along fine without documentation.

But the checkpoint is strictly to be avoided if you are a migrant or smuggler because getting caught there can be a ticket to deportation or prison.

This is where everyone traveling by road outside of south Texas is stopped and asked their citizenship. As a child in my home town of El Paso, I reveled in passing border patrol stations just to see the uniformed agents and the drug-sniffing dogs, staples at checkpoints. That was until I witnessed the fear of an older distant relative traveling with us who, though in the country legally, did not have her documents.

The agent allowed my relative through the checkpoint with a stern warning. To this day, routine school activities such as a field trip or even a high school sports event to cities such as Corpus Christi or San Antonio, which are not too far from Hidalgo, can cause anxiety among school administrators who know the chances are good that some of their students are undocumented and may encounter problems at these checkpoints. Four years ago, in a notorious case , a year-old girl who was being rushed by ambulance from the border city of Laredo to a hospital in Corpus Christi for emergency surgery was temporarily detained by border patrol agents because she was undocumented.

They eventually allowed her to proceed to the hospital — but she was accompanied by immigration agents who stood outside the operating room and took her into custody when doctors released her from the hospital.

But the saddest reality of these border patrol checkpoints is the number of lives lost when smugglers dump their migrant clients in the vicinity of that roadside memorial along US The migrant is given a little water and often-scant directions to march through unforgiving backcountry to meet the smugglers north of the Falfurrias checkpoint. I have visited some of this ranchland, which has a barren sameness to it that makes it difficult to find your direction.

Throw in a relentless south Texas sun and even a short journey can become a challenge. Most of the 10 largest cities in the U. Some states, like Florida, lie entirely within this border band so their entire populations are impacted. The Fourth Amendment to the U. Constitution protects against arbitrary searches and seizures of people and their property, even in this expanded border area.

And, depending on where you are in this area and how long an agent detains you, agents must have varying levels of suspicion to hold you. We will examine specific scenarios where one might encounter CBP in more depth, but here are your key rights. These apply to every situation, outside of customs and ports of entry. As part of its immigration enforcement efforts, CBP boards buses and trains in the mile border region either at the station or while the bus is on its journey.

More than one officer usually boards the bus, and they will ask passengers questions about their immigration status, ask passengers to show them immigration documents, or both. Although these situations are scary, and it may seem that CBP agents are giving you an order when they ask you questions, you are not required to answer and can simply say you do not wish to do so.

As always, you have the right to remain silent. If this occurs, you should ask if you are being detained. Also, if an agent begins to question you about non-immigration matters, say to ask about drug smuggling, or if they haul you off the bus, they need at least reasonable suspicion that you committed an offense in order to briefly detain you while they investigate. You can ask an agent for their basis for detaining you, and they should tell you. The longer CBP detains you the more suspicion they need — eventually they will need probable cause once the detention goes from brief to prolonged.

If the agent arrests you or searches the interior of your belongings, they need probable cause that you committed an offense. You can ask the agent to tell you their basis for probable cause, and they should be able to articulate their suspicion. Depending on the checkpoint, there may be cameras installed throughout and leading up to the checkpoint and drug-sniffing dogs stationed with the agents. At these checkpoints, every motorist is stopped and asked about their immigration status.

Agents do not need any suspicion to stop you and ask you questions at a lawful checkpoint, but their questions should be brief and related to verifying immigration status. They can also visually inspect your vehicle. Some motorists will be sent to secondary inspection areas at the checkpoint for further questioning. This should be done only to ask limited and routine questions about immigration status that cannot be asked of every motorist in heavy traffic.

As before, when you are at a checkpoint, you can remain silent, inform the agent that you decline to answer their questions or tell the agent you will only answer questions in the presence of an attorney.