United States Code 135 states that border patrol agents have the authority to perform warrantless searches within a reasonable distance of U.S. maritime and land borders. According to the ACLU, “reasonable” has been interpreted as within 100 miles, a decision that does not sit well with the civil liberties group.
“Courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security, we are seeing wide swaths of the country designated as constitution free zones, where even American citizens are denied their basic constitutional rights,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office during a press conference at the National Press Club.
Fredricksen said that the ACLU was able to use data from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate that there are 197.4 million people who live within a hundred miles of maritime or coastal borders, which would mean that two-thirds of the U.S. population are exposed to the possibility of being searched without probable cause according to the ACLU.
“This is a classic case of law enforcement powers expanding far beyond their proper boundaries and in this case, we mean that literally,” said Fredrickson.
To show the effects of the Border Patrol’s interpretation, a video was shown of Vince Peppard, a San Diego man who was stopped by Border Patrol agents 15 miles within the U.S. when returning from buying tile in Mexico.
“When I came back from Mexico, they didn’t open my trunk then. But then a half hour later in the United States they were opening my trunk and ransacking my car. I didn’t feel like I was in the United States,” said Peppard.
ACLU: Wide swaths of the country designated as constitution free zones
“Courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security, we are seeing wide swaths of the country designated as constitution free zones, where even American citizens are denied their basic constitutional rights,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office during a press conference at the National Press Club.
Fredricksen said that the ACLU was able to use data from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate that there are 197.4 million people who live within a hundred miles of maritime or coastal borders, which would mean that two-thirds of the U.S. population are exposed to the possibility of being searched without probable cause according to the ACLU.
“This is a classic case of law enforcement powers expanding far beyond their proper boundaries and in this case, we mean that literally,” said Fredrickson.
To show the effects of the Border Patrol’s interpretation, a video was shown of Vince Peppard, a San Diego man who was stopped by Border Patrol agents 15 miles within the U.S. when returning from buying tile in Mexico.
“When I came back from Mexico, they didn’t open my trunk then. But then a half hour later in the United States they were opening my trunk and ransacking my car. I didn’t feel like I was in the United States,” said Peppard.