United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: The Danger Within: Border Patrol Is Turning America Into a Constitution-Free Zone
Source:
The Rutherford Institute
URL Source: https://www.rutherford.org/publicat ... _into_a_constitution_free_zone
Published: Jan 15, 2019
Author: John Whitehead
Post Date: 2019-01-16 07:24:30 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 5434
Comments: 27
How far would you really go to secure the nation’s borders against illegal aliens? Would you give the government limitless amounts of money to fight yet another endless war? Surround the entire country with concrete walls and barbed wire? Empower border police to do whatever it takes to crack down on illegal immigrants, even if it means violating their human rights? Hold your nose and tolerate all manner of abuses in name of national security? Would you allow government agents to trample on the rights of anyone who gets in their way, including legal citizens? Relinquish some of your freedoms in exchange for the elusive promise of non-porous borders? Submit to a national ID card that allows the government to target individuals and groups as it chooses in order to identify those who do not “belong”? Turn a blind eye to private prisons and detainment camps that profit off the forced labor of its detainees? Would you turn your backs on every constitutional principle for which our founders fought and died in exchange for empty campaign promises of elusive safety by fast-talking politicians? This is the devil’s bargain that the U.S. government demands of its people. These devilish deals have been foisted upon “we the people” before. Every decade or so, the government makes the case for expanding its wartime powers and curtailing the citizenry’s freedom—in the war on terrorism, war on drugs, war on communism, war on foreigners, war on extremism, war on dissidents, war on peace activists, war on anti-government speech, etc.—all for the sake of national security, of course, and as expected, the American people fall in line. This time around, the government wants us to buy into the fiction that this war on illegal aliens is so necessary for national security that we should be grateful when roving bands of border patrol agents, flexing their muscles far beyond the nation’s borders, exercise their right to disregard the Constitution at every turn. Except these border patrol cops aren’t just disregarding the Constitution. They’re trampling all over the Constitution, especially the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits the government from carrying out egregious warrantless searches and seizures without probable cause. As part of the government’s so-called crackdown on illegal immigration, drugs and trafficking, its border patrol cops are expanding their reach, roaming further afield and subjecting greater numbers of Americans to warrantless searches, ID checkpoints, transportation checks, and even surveillance on private property far beyond the boundaries of the borderlands. That so-called border, once a thin borderline, is now an ever-thickening band spreading deeper and deeper inside the country. Consequently, nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within a 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone. As journalist Todd Miller explains, that expanding border region now extends “100 miles inland around the United States—along the 2,000-mile southern border, the 4,000-mile northern border and both coasts... This ‘border’ region now covers places where two-thirds of the US population (197.4 million people) live… The ‘border’ has by now devoured the full states of Maine and Florida and much of Michigan.” So much for walking that golden ribbon of highway. In this authoritarian reshaping of America, you’d better watch where you roam and ramble, because you could find yourself wandering into the government’s ever-expanding, Constitution-free zone where freedom is off-limits and government agents have all the power and “we the people” have none. Miller continues: “In these vast domains, Homeland Security authorities can institute roving patrols with broad, extra-constitutional powers backed by national security, immigration enforcement and drug interdiction mandates. There, the Border Patrol can set up traffic checkpoints and fly surveillance drones overhead with high-powered cameras and radar that can track your movements. Within twenty-five miles of the international boundary, CBP [Customs and Border Protection] agents can enter a person’s private property without a warrant.” These are definitely not Mayberry cops. The CBP, with its more than 60,000 Customs and Border Protection employees, supplemented by the National Guard and the U.S. military, is an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, a national police force imbued with all the brutality, ineptitude and corruption such a role implies. Just about every nefarious deed, tactic or thuggish policy advanced by the government today can be traced back to the DHS, its police state mindset, and the billions of dollars it distributes to local police agencies in the form of grants to transform them into extensions of the military. As Miller points out, the government has turned the nation’s expanding border regions into “a ripe place to experiment with tearing apart the Constitution, a place where not just undocumented border-crossers, but millions of borderland residents have become the targets of continual surveillance.” In much the same way that police across the country have been schooled in the art of sidestepping the Constitution, border cops have also been drilled in the art of “anything goes” in the name of national security. In fact, according to FOIA documents shared with The Intercept, border cops even have a checklist of “possible behaviors” that warrant overriding the Constitution and subjecting individuals—including American citizens—to stops, searches, seizures, interrogations and even arrests. For instance, if you’re driving a vehicle that to a border cop looks unusual in some way, you can be stopped. If your passengers look dirty or unusual, you can be stopped. If you or your passengers avoid looking at a cop, you can be stopped. If you or your passengers look too long at a cop, you can be stopped. If you’re anywhere near a border (near being within 100 miles of a border, or in a city, or on a bus, or at an airport), you can be stopped and asked to prove you’re legally allowed to be in the country. If you’re traveling on a public road that smugglers and other criminals may have traveled, you can be stopped. If you’re not driving in the same direction as other cars, you can be stopped. If you appear to be avoiding a police checkpoint, you can be stopped. If your car appears to be weighed down, you can be stopped. If your vehicle is from out of town, wherever that might be, you can be stopped. If you’re driving a make of car that criminal-types have also driven, you can be stopped. If your car appears to have been altered or modified, you can be stopped. If the cargo area in your vehicle is covered, you can be stopped. If you’re driving during a time of day or night that border cops find suspicious, you can be stopped. If you’re driving when border cops are changing shifts, you can be stopped. If you’re driving in a motorcade or with another vehicle, you can be stopped. If your car appears dusty, you can be stopped. If people with you are trying to avoid being seen, or exhibiting “unusual” behavior, you can be stopped. If you slow down after seeing a cop, you can be stopped. Are you starting to get the picture yet? This isn’t about illegal aliens and border crossings at all. It’s a test to see how hard “we the people” will fight to hold onto what remains of our freedoms. If this is a test, we’re failing abysmally. Then again, we’ve been failing this particular test for a long time now. Indeed, as journalist Hayes Brown concludes, the United States has a long, dubious history of putting national security before people’s freedoms. Certainly, it took no time at all for us to forget Benjamin Franklin’s warning that “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” It was 1798 when Americans, their fears stoked by rumblings of a Quasi-War with France, chose safety over liberty when they failed to protest the Alien and Sedition Acts, which criminalized anti-government speech, empowered the government to deport “dangerous” non-citizens and made it harder for immigrants to vote. During the Civil War, Americans went along when Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus (the right to a speedy trial) and authorized government officials to spy on Americans’ mail. During World War I, Americans took it in stride when President Woodrow Wilson and Congress adopted the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which made it a crime to interfere with the war effort and criminalized any speech critical of war. By World War II, Americans were marching in lockstep with the government’s expanding war powers to imprison Japanese-American citizens in detainment camps, censor mail, and lay the groundwork for the future surveillance state. Fast-forward to the Cold War’s Red Scares, the McCarthy era’s hearings on un-American activities, and the government’s surveillance of Civil Rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr.—all done in the name of national security. By the time 9/11 rolled around, all George W. Bush had to do was claim the country was being invaded by terrorists, and the government was given greater powers to spy, search, detain and arrest American citizens in order to keep America safe. The terrorist invasion never really happened, but the government kept its newly acquired police powers made possible by the nefarious USA Patriot Act. Barack Obama continued Bush’s trend of undermining the Constitution, going so far as to give the military the power to strip Americans of their constitutional rights, label them extremists, and detain them indefinitely without trial, all in the name of keeping America safe. Despite the fact that the breadth of the military’s power to detain American citizens violates not only U.S. law and the Constitution but also international laws, the government has refused to relinquish its detention powers made possible by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Now you have Donald Trump claiming the country is being invaded by dangerous immigrants and insisting that the only way to keep America safe is to build an expensive border wall, expand the reach of border patrol, and empower the military to “assist” with border control. This latest crisis is yet another manufactured reality that keeps us tuned into the government’s soap opera and oblivious to all else. It’s time to change the channel. While the border wall debate certainly stirs up, divides and distracts the populace, expanding the government’s police powers is not the answer. For that matter, building a border wall is unlikely to do much to deter illegal immigrants from getting into this country (they will just continue to tunnel under border walls or go around them as they have been doing), it won’t thwart drug traffickers (they already use legal ports of entry and corrupt government agents as conduits to funnel their drugs into the country), and it certainly won’t make America any safer from its most pressing threat—that is, government agents armed with totalitarian powers. It will, however, expand the reach of the police state under our noses. As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, once the government acquires—and uses—additional powers (to spy on its citizens, to carry out surveillance, to transform its police forces into extensions of the police, to seize taxpayer funds, to wage endless wars, to censor and silence dissidents, to identify potential troublemakers, to detain citizens without due process), it does not voluntarily relinquish them. It’s time “we the people” put our house in order. Just look at the mess we’re in right now: the longest government shutdown in history, political theatrics that keep the populace distracted while the police state clamps down, an economy that is disintegrating before our eyes, a surveillance state that is gearing up for total control, an aging national infrastructure that is falling apart, an appalling lack of leaders with moral backbones and civic knowledge, and a government that grows more authoritarian with every passing day. The problem is not that the U.S. is being invaded by rapists, thieves and cold-blooded killers. Rather, the problem is that the U.S. government is overrun with rapists, thieves and cold-blooded killers who are on the government payroll. Our own government is now the greatest threat to our safety, and there’s no border wall big enough to protect us from these ruffians in our midst. “We the people” will always be the best defense against tyrants and thugs, whether they serve in our own government or foreign threats. So stop worshiping at the feet of false political idols whose allegiance is only to power and profit. Stop tolerating this topsy-turvy state of affairs that punishes truth, transparency and justice while rewarding greed, corruption and injustice. Stop obeying every immoral government order. And stop letting your personal politics get in the way of standing up for your freedoms. As historian Howard Zinn rightly recognized: Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience… Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem.
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”— William Pitt
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: All (#0)
That so-called border, once a thin borderline, is now an ever-thickening band spreading deeper and deeper inside the country. Consequently, nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within a 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone. As journalist Todd Miller explains, that expanding border region now extends “100 miles inland around the United States—along the 2,000-mile southern border, the 4,000-mile northern border and both coasts... This ‘border’ region now covers places where two-thirds of the US population (197.4 million people) live… The ‘border’ has by now devoured the full states of Maine and Florida and much of Michigan.” Several states are now completely "Constitution-Free Zones" Welcome to Amerika - home of the slave.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. Comrade Dip-Shit's SVR handlers and his master, VP - are pleased, their plan is being carried out quite well! While I stand by my assertion that there will never be a wall, the question must be asked, "Exactly who stands to cash in on FP45's $5.7 Billion appropriation?" Who is leaning so hard on the "US president" for our $Billions, that the toad is willing to fuck-over 800,000 federal employees and wreck the economy? Who was promised our money? Who has that kind of leverage? The answer to this question will tell us a great deal.....
You are turning into a professional drama queen if you are getting your panties all in a wad over border control.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Are you two tweeks a couple now?
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
I think you will die in a coupe attempt. You will be fried with a flame thrower. I'm ok with that.
The Trump organization should built the wall. They are great builders. No one cares what charcoal thinks.
Comrade Dip-Shit's SVR handlers and his master, VP - are pleased, their plan is being carried out quite well! Can't blame this on Trump - it started with Bush then Obama.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. He's gonna get run over by a car in a Beach Boys song? Coupe: Coup:
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. Comrade Dip-Shit is willing to completely sell-out to have the "border wall funding" approved.....why? He tried selling the bogus "migrant caravan" story - he thought we were stupid enough to vote in enough traitorous republican'ts to approve his "pay-off" He claimed he could force the Pentagon to "build the wall" - the generals wouldn't get involved without controlling the spending - so that wouldn't work... The toad arranged for a laughable address to the nation to sell his new "national emergency" lie.....No one was buying it. So, this idiot shuts down the government. screws 800,000 American families - sets into motion an economic downturn which could become the recession no one wants.... No one in D.C. wants to work for this ass-bite - he's toxic...... He continues to piss away what little political capital he has - this is a desperate degenerate indeed..... why? Who does he owe?? Who has that kind of leverage?
Attagirl princess - the thing is, this isn't about border control. If you live within the 100 mile zone, you have no constitutional rights.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. No question it began with However, the toad specifically vowed to "drain the swamp" If there is a metaphorical "swamp" "border security" is surely at the heart of it. No one can argue that the "Constitution-Free Zone" discussed by the author isn't exactly what the enemies of America and freedom have been plotting for decades...... and Comrade Dip-Shit's BFF's are those enemies.
You faggots are really upset we have a real man for a president. Your whining means we are winning. Do the world a favor and make your next boyfriend a carrier of aids. You need to suffer.
A music video....... I knew that would be my ultimate downfall......
So if you in that area there is no trial by jury right? No right to have an attorney? No free speech? You're a loon. At least you are not evil like your butt buddy Jameson the faggot.
No right to have an attorney? No free speech? Newly Released FOIA Documents Shed Light on Border Patrol’s Seemingly Limitless Authority
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. You didn't answer the question. You were caught in another lie so you posted a link. lol.
They NOW live within 100 miles? The Immigration and Nationality Act set that distance over 50 years ago. NOW it's a problem?
Bet you never even read it. I'm not lying princess - but hey, what the heck. You always did believe the government narrative on everything anyways. Now that Daddy Donnie is POTUS, you're all-in for tyranny.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. I'm not lying princess You said NO constitutional rights within 100 miles of a border. If there is 1 trial by jury in that land you are incorrect. If there is one person who pleads the fifth in that area you are wrong. In other words you are wrong.
www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46876317
If you live within the 100 mile zone, you have no constitutional rights. Uhhhhh,I know you bees a genius n all dat,but get someone to explain the word "Move" to you. Although the truth is I doubt you live anywhere close to a border. You just want something to bitch and whine about. Your problem is your mind is 12 years old and will never get any older no matter how long you live. Guess what,Princess? The world and everybody in it don't exist purely to please YOU. No matter how many times you hold your breath until you turn blue,you are NOT in charge of everyone else. When your mommy told you that "you are a special little boy!" she was speaking for herself and not the rest of the world. It's time to quit being "mommy's special little boy" and man-up.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Do you "honest to gawd" believe that little brain fart,or are you just trying to be a drama queen so you can join Deckards Secret Club?
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
My entire state is within this zone. get someone to explain the word "Move" to you. Oh - I should move to another state because I don't want CBP agents unconstitutionally harassing me 99 miles away from the border? The rest of your rant is ridiculous.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. Quote Deckard "WAHHHHH! WAHHHHHH! WAHHHHHH!"
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Maybe I could feel some pity for you. What did they do to you specifically?
Dicktard hates it when you remind him he’s the most important person he knows. Just call him little people... might shock him into reality.
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
As part of the government’s so-called crackdown on illegal immigration, drugs and trafficking, its border patrol cops are expanding their reach, roaming further afield and subjecting greater numbers of Americans to warrantless searches, ID checkpoints, transportation checks, and even surveillance on private property far beyond the boundaries of the borderlands.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
Border Patrol Is Turning America Into a Constitution-Free Zone
#3. To: Deckard (#0)
#4. To: Jameson, Deckard (#2)
#5. To: Jameson (#2)
(Edited)
#6. To: Jameson (#2)
#7. To: Jameson (#2)
Border Patrol Is Turning America Into a Constitution-Free Zone
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#8. To: A K A Stone, Jameson (#5)
I think you will die in a coupe attempt.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#9. To: A K A Stone (#6)
Who has that kind of leverage?
- wrong -
#10. To: sneakypete (#3)
You are turning into a professional drama queen if you are getting your panties all in a wad over border control.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#11. To: Deckard (#7)
(Edited)
Can't blame this on Trump - it started with Bush then Obama.
Bush Cheney - and President Obama did nothing to stop it...
#12. To: Jameson (#9)
#13. To: Deckard (#8)
He's gonna get run over by a car in a Beach Boys song?
#14. To: Deckard (#10)
If you live within the 100 mile zone, you have no constitutional rights.
#15. To: Jameson (#13)
#16. To: A K A Stone (#14)
So if you in that area there is no trial by jury right?
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#17. To: Deckard (#16)
#18. To: Deckard (#1)
Consequently, nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within a 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone.
#19. To: A K A Stone (#17)
You were caught in another lie so you posted a link.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#20. To: Deckard (#19)
Bet you never even read it.
#21. To: Jameson (#9)
#22. To: Deckard (#10)
ttagirl princess - the thing is, this isn't about border control.
#23. To: Jameson (#9)
He claimed he could force the Pentagon to "build the wall" - the generals wouldn't get involved without controlling the spending - so that wouldn't work...
#24. To: sneakypete (#22)
Although the truth is I doubt you live anywhere close to a border.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#25. To: Deckard (#24)
#26. To: Deckard (#24)
Oh - I should move to another state because I don't want CBP agents unconstitutionally harassing me 99 miles away from the border?
#27. To: sneakypete (#22)
Guess what,Princess? The world and everybody in it don't exist purely to please YOU
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]