Immigration checkpoints are a way of life in areas within 100 miles from U.S. borders
For a large swath of the U.S. population, checkpoints are a regular part of life, where they must affirm that they are citizens or have legal residency in the U.S.
Well before President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown further opened the door for agents and officers to question people about their citizenship and legal status, the Border Patrol had been doing exactly that at checkpoints flanking roadways within the United States.
It was at such an inland checkpoint that on Feb. 4 Border Patrol apprehended the parents of five children, four of them U.S. citizens.
They were en route from Rio Grande City, Texas, to Houston for emergency medical care for their 10-year-old daughter who has brain cancer, NBC News reported, when they arrived at the Falfurrias checkpoint. Rio Grande City is about 360 miles southwest of Houston, and about an 85-mile to 104-mile drive from the checkpoint, depending on the route taken.
The parents, who did not have documentation showing they were citizens or had legal status, were deported. Seeing no other options, they took their five children with them to Mexico, uncertain how they’d get their daughter the care she needs.
Located up to 100 miles from the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, Border Patrol checkpoints have long dotted U.S. arteries, serving as something of a secondary border — or tertiary when considering areas where border wall and fencing has been built.
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