http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--trafficchecks1112nov12,0,5761612.story

Border Patrol starts random traffic stops in Michigan

By DAVID RUNK
Associated Press Writer

November 12, 2002, 5:02 PM EST

CASCO TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Borrowing a tactic used in southwestern states for cracking down on illegal immigration, federal agents along the border with Canada are setting up unannounced, rotating checkpoints in areas known for smuggling.

In Michigan, U.S. Border Patrol agents began stopping people Tuesday to ask their citizenship and other questions. Checkpoints are being used near Port Huron and Trenton _ areas that officials say are among the state's busiest for smuggling.

The main purpose is to catch illegal immigrants, said Loretta Lopez-Mossman, acting chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's Detroit sector. But, she added, agents also will be looking for other types of smuggling and potential terrorists.

"These temporary checkpoints will aid our efforts to detect and deter the illegal entries and smuggling activity that pose a potential threat to border security," Lopez-Mossman said.

Special Agent Dawn Clenney with the Detroit FBI said the Border Patrol effort likely will enhance security. She said counter-terrorism work is key in the state, which has seen three Middle Eastern men charged with supporting terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"There are strands of al-Qaeda and Hezbollah and Hamas here in Michigan. I don't want to narrow it down any further than that," Clenney said.

While checkpoints may have a deterrent effect, Jo Anne Adlerstein, head of law firm Proskauer Rose LLP's immigration practice group, said the effort probably won't help catch potential terrorists because of the sophisticated ways they use to enter the country.

"It may give the impression of improved security," Adlerstein said.

The Michigan checkpoints are the latest being used along the northern border, said Border Patrol spokesman Mario Villarreal. Border Patrol units that cover states including New York, Vermont and New Hampshire use the checkpoints, Villarreal said, and officials began a similar program in northwest Washington state over the weekend.

"It's all about homeland security. Bottom line, we are here to be vigilant about the safety and security of the American people," said Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Greg Palmore, who was on hand for the debut of the Michigan checkpoints.

Along a St. Clair County road about 12 miles from the St. Clair River, which marks the border with Canada, agents in green Border Patrol uniforms Tuesday set up orange traffic cones and stopped drivers. Most were quickly sent through, while a few were asked to pull to the side of the road for follow up questions.

Lopez-Mossman said checkpoints won't be on main highways and likely will be set up for two hours at a time. She said intelligence about smuggling activity will be one factor in determining where to set up the checkpoints.

U.S. citizens stopped at the checkpoints likely won't need to show identification, officials said, but immigrants will be asked for proof of their status.

"If we see something that is illegal in plain sight, we will ask more questions," Lopez-Mossman said. "But our intent is to check immigration status."

Lopez-Mossman said everyone will be stopped at the checkpoints and there will be no profiling.

In Michigan, checkpoints will be used indefinitely near Port Huron and Trenton, and may be set up next summer near the border crossing at Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula.

Port Huron, about an hour north of Detroit, has a bridge crossing from Sarnia, Ontario. Trenton, south of Detroit, is not a border entry point but is on the Detroit River near the entry to Lake Erie and has a lot of boat traffic.

Lopez-Mossman said Detroit, which has bridge and tunnel crossings with Canada, also is a busy area in Michigan for smuggling, but the prospect of traffic backups in the city outweighed the benefits that the checkpoints might have brought.

The use of checkpoints is common in southern border states such as Texas and California. But Kary Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan, said she is concerned that the agents might stop people based on their ethnicity.

"There is a strong likelihood that this could affect the migrant community," Moss said.

Census data show Michigan is the state with the greatest percentage of people claiming Arab ancestry, although the state ranks third when it comes to the total number of Arabs. California has the nation's largest Arab population, while New York is second.

Nationwide, federal agencies are cracking down on immigration.

Since Sept. 11 of this year and last week, more than 14,000 foreign visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria have been fingerprinted at U.S. border crossings and 179 have been arrested, Attorney General John Ashcroft said last week.

The countries are considered high-risk for terrorism. The Justice Department also announced last week that thousands of men from the five countries who arrived in the United States between Jan. 1 and Sept. 10 will also have to be fingerprinted and photographed.