Associated Press and Globe and Mail Update
Tuesday, November 12 Online Edition, Posted at 4:32 PM EST
U.S. federal agents are stopping drivers at unannounced rotating
checkpoints in two areas of Michigan, looking for illegal immigrants
and drug or weapons smugglers.
U.S. Border Patrol agents began to stop people at checkpoints
Tuesday to ask their citizenship and other questions.
"It's all about homeland security. Bottom line, we are here to be
vigilant about the safety and security of the American people,"
Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Greg Palmore
said.
The purpose of the checkpoints is to stop immigrant smuggling,
said Loretta Lopez-Mossman, acting chief patrol agent for the
Detroit sector of border patrol. But agents will be looking for
other types of smuggling, she said.
The checkpoints, which will be in the areas of Port Huron, across
from Sarnia, and Trenton, near the mouth of the St. Clair River
south of Detroit, will be set up based on several factors, including
whether officials have intelligence about smuggling activity, Ms.
Lopez-Mossman said. The checkpoints won't be on main highways and
likely will be set up for two hours at a time.
Port Huron and Trenton are both near busy border crossings with
Canada. Those two areas also are among the busiest for smuggling
activity in this region, Ms. Lopez-Mossman said. Trenton is along
the Detroit River near the mouth of Lake Erie, where shipping and
boating traffic is heavy, and Port Huron is home to a major bridge
crossing to Sarnia, Ont.
"The Americans have the right to run the checks that they feel
necessary," to stop illegal immigration and drug or weapons
smuggling, Reynald Doiron, a spokesman at the Foreign Affairs
Department, told globeandmail.com on Tuesday.
But when it comes to Canadians (carrying Canadian passports)
travelling in the United States, the U.S. government has given
assurances that they will not be scrutinized simply because of their
birthplaces.
Mr. Doiron said Canadian officials "are monitoring the situation
at ports of entry," to ensure that birthplace is not an issue for
those carrying Canadian passports.
Kary Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union 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," Ms. Moss said.
Ms. Lopez-Mossman said everyone will be stopped at the
checkpoints and said there will be no profiling.
The practice of checkpoints is common in southern border states
such as Texas and California.
Ms. Lopez-Mossman said the checkpoints will be in place
indefinitely. More may be set up next summer near Sault Ste. Marie
in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, she said.
Detroit, which has two busy border crossings, is not being
included in the checkpoints because officials are worried about
traffic tie-ups, Ms. Lopez-Mossman said.
With a report from Allison Lawlor
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