DPS aims for driver's license checkpoints

[tbyg52]

Source: Houston Chronicle

The state's top law enforcement agency has asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for a ruling on the legality of setting up statewide driver's license checkpoints but 15 lawmakers say such a move would be unauthorized immigration policymaking.

A number of state legislators argue the Department of Public Safety Commission overstepped its authority Aug. 25 by issuing new rules requiring applicants to prove they are legally in the U.S. before they can receive a Texas driver's license or identification. Two weeks later, lawmakers were further disturbed after learning the commission's chairman, Allan B. Polunsky, wanted a ruling on the checkpoints.

snip

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio and 14 other Texas lawmakers sent Abbott a letter asking him to ignore the commission's legal opinion request because the Legislature has not authorized a DPS checkpoint program.

snip

Staffed by state troopers or local police, the checkpoints would stop drivers to review their licenses, vehicle registrations and proof of insurance.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6107900.html

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I heard this on the radio news this morning, and it shook me wide awake immediately. It's not just "immigration policy" - last I heard, the ability to move about freely unless you have done something wrong (that they can prove without searching you, unless they have a warrant!) is a pretty fundamental right.

Don't have time to look it up right now on my dialup, but wasn't there a case in San Diego back in the 70's or 80's where they were stopping a guy for his ID in some ritzy neighborhood (might have been La Jolla?) and he fought it and won? Sounds like the same thing to me.

BTW, I'm against drunk driving checkpoints as well, and have always thought they were leading up to something like this. Your papers, please?!

[liberal N proud]

1. Checkpoints sound a lot like a police state

Show me your papers.


I demand to see your papers.




If you don't show me your papers, I will arrest you.

[madrchsod]

2. the cops do this at least every other month here in illinois

"safety check points" find all kinds of "violations"

[awoke_in_2003]

3. Just when I thought

this state couldn't get any nuttier. Law enforcement is getting out of hand.

[treestar]

4. Honestly, I don't care if people are illegally here so long as there

are any murderers, robbers, burglars, speeders, DUIs or kidnappers around.

Why do we worry about this kind of crap when there is real evil out there? It boggles the mind.

[WriteDown]

13. Lack of insurance....

Its a real problem here in Texas. Getting hit by an uninsured driver is no fun either.

[mbperrin]

17. Buy the uninsured motorist coverage for less than $30 per year.

K?

[WriteDown]

23. Hahahahaha....

Spoken like someone who has never been hit by an uninsured motorist. It is a nightmare.

[Edith Ann]

5. Driver's license

I have my own problems. I live in Oklahoma with batshit insane Randy Terrill. We tried to beat him with a good candidate and a Good person, Troy Green, but the people of HD 53 just have to have someone to hate. MESSAGE TO TEXAS: I DON'T EVER HAVE TO STEP FOOT IN TEXAS AGAIN. I CAN GO TO A MORE FRIENDLY STATE FOR A VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Citizen_Penn]

11. Edith Ann, don't tell me - tell....

Greg Abbott - [e-mail]

Rick Perry - www.rickperry.org


And if you really want to bother the Texas AG, tell him that a former classmate of his from Duncanville High School told you how to lodge the complaint.

Yes, I went to school with him.

[bowens43]

6. YOur papers comrade???? nt

[pattmarty]

7. I agree. This stinks of totalitarianism. This type of thing has and is.......

......going on with police stopping people for license plate light being out, tail light, loud exhaust, loud radio etc. Also, if you look at the new passport law taking effect next year you cannot even go to Canada, Mexico or any of the "cruise" islands unless you have a passport. My thinking is one huge reason for passports is to keep people in a country. All the government has to do is come up with any bullshit excuse to not issue you one. One last thing on this subject is all the terrorism laws, if you look closer you see local people getting convicted of "terrorist threatening" and other fucked-up sounding charges. I recently went with my son to a HUGE new courthouse for Kane county Illinois and on a weekday this fucking place looked like Disneyland on Labor day. This shit has been going on little by little under all our noses for 20 plus years, and folks it ain't getting any better.

[sohndrsmith]

18. I've been wondering about the cable ads for this - they're creepy

They make it sound like something travelers will want, but they say "new requirements" will make traveling to Mexico, Canada, (and Puerto Rico?) "easier"...

They focus on how great it is to travel, but how wonderful it is to "get back home" and they show new ID cards that I assume will be implemented.

Creeps me out. I don't recall the public debate on this, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen...

[Nevernose]

8. I was stopped at an immigration check 100 miles inside the TX border

Me, the (now-ex) wife, and two kids, stopped at a random checkpoint about a hundred miles inside the border, near El Paso, on some pissant road (I prefer small roads).

"Citizenship?"
"What about it?"
"Do you have any?"
"Uh, yes?"
"What is your citizenship, sir?"
"American."
"Can you prove it?"
"No. Can you prove yours?"
"Please step out of the vehicle, sir..."
"Sure. Honey, keep the kids quiet for a second, would you? Hey, shouldn't the Border Patrol be somewhere near the border?"

It went downhill from there. The guy actually wanted my birth certificate -- a driver's license wasn't going to be enough. He was unable to understand why I told him I was born in Dallas yet lived in Vegas, and my family lives in yet other places. Understand, if you look up "gringo" in a Spanish to English dictionary, my face is going to be looking back at you.

[MrsBrady]

9. what happened n/t

[Nevernose]

21. The cold, hard truth? They weren't going to arrest a white guy.

I've been arrested for talking back to a cop before. And by talking back, I mean that and nothing else -- no physical contact, no uncooperative behavior -- purely the smart mouth. Just for asking questions. I fully expected that to happen here, but I honestly think they didn't want to go through the hassle of arresting a white tourist. Too much possibility of negative press and further complications.

[pattmarty]

10. Who in the fuck carries their birth certificate with them?????

What happened to you sounds like some kind of SNL skit.

[Nevernose]

20. Most of my encounters with the police go in a similar fashion

Me? Excellent sense of humor.

Law enforcement? Poor senses of humor.

It usually ends badly. :)

[sonias]

12. Neverrose, when did this happen?

Was this recent i.e. this year - 2008?

I had no idea these were already going on. Or do you mean this was the questioning at the checkpoints? We do have checkpoints that are permanent in Texas and they are located about 100 miles or so inside the borders. And everyone driving has to go through them. You just have to play their game - "Sir, yes sir". They use dogs to sniff around the cars too. Was that the kind of checkpoint you went through?

Texas authority types don't like attitude at all. And if you know anything about the Texas justice system, you want to stay away from it as much as possible. My hubby is a gringo too and he was wearing mirrored sunglasses once when we were crossing back from Mexico and the border patrol guy didn't like that at all. He practically got a cavity search for not taking them off. Me I'm Mexican-American and I'm very brown. I didn't give him any flack and got through without a problem.


Sonia

[alstephenson]

16. Here's an article about the checkpoints on I-8 (route from Phoenix to San Diego)

Immigration checkpoint my ass. They want to catch and fine the evil pot smokers headed for a weekend at the beach. This is a huge revenue source for the City of Yuma. Ridiculous waste of human and canine resources.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-03-13/news/border-patrol-checkpoints-near-yuma-nab-hordes-of-pot-users-headed-back-from-the-beach/#FeedbackDisplay

[Nevernose]

19. It was 1998, iirc, which seems recent in my brain

And I'm actually originally from Texas -- East Texas, which is simultaneously more and less crazy, but I don't visit home the through the southern route anymore, which kind of sucks because the whole Big Bend region and the Guadalupe Mountains and Eastern New Mexico are absolutely fantastic.

That was indeed the kind of checkpoint I went through.

[sonias]

24. Yep, those checkpoints are going to be here forever

Now it's just a question whether we expand Texas to be a police state. The Texas Rs would love to do that. But you just wait until one of their own gets popped for a DWI. Trust me it will happen.

Big Bend is still beautiful although getting a lot of pollution from both this side of Texas and from the Mexican side as well. The latest on the Christmas mountains is that for now our trigger finger hot to sell anything land commissioner, Jerry Patterson (R-naturally), has it on hold.

If you haven't followed the saga of the Christmas Mountains land donation, The Texas Observer did a good piece on it in January here:
What’s Best For The Christmas Mountains?

:hi: fellow former Texan.

Sonia

[Kali]

14. I have at least three of those effing checkpoints within 100 mile of me

and I am barely 60 miles north of the border. I guess I look hostile enough they rarely bother me (large middle aged woman with clear "bitching" abilities:rofl: )

The fun time was last spring coming back from Mexico with three Germans and three Hungarians after two weeks down there and them all leaving the US THE NEXT DAY. Sorry we just don't want to stay in your fascist country any longer than we have to:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Blue_Tires]

22. what a jagg-off

with so many morons patrolling the border, it's no wonder it is so porous...

i am reminded by a story another DUer posted a couple of years back...Long story short, while coming back from a road trip to Canada, a DUer's friend was detained for showing a Puerto Rico driver's license...it took hours explaining to the border patrol that the guy was still an American by birth....

[WolverineDG]

25. That's okay--they once tried to give me an English test

Unfortunately for them, I am certified to teach English as a First Language & started correcting THEIR grammar & spelling. "Carry on, ma'am."

jerks.

dg

[Hugin]

15. That's all we need is more checkpoints.

Here's hoping President Obama knows that checkpoints went out with Checkpoint Charlie.

[douglas9]

26. DPS withdraws request for AG's opinion on checkpoints (11.14.08)

AUSTIN — The Department of Public Safety is abandoning plans to set up statewide driver's license checkpoints in the face of strong opposition from a group of state lawmakers.

Public Safety Commission Chairman Allan Polunsky said Friday that the request for an attorney general's opinion on the legality of checkpoints had been misconstrued as an effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.

Although that was not the case, he said, the opinion request will be withdrawn.

"It turned into an immigration issue, which it never was intended to be," Polunsky said. "The Department of Public Safety has not and will not be involved in the enforcement of immigration laws in this state."

He added that he respects the opinions of the legislators who were concerned about checkpoints.

"Some of them are very good friends of mine and I felt (withdrawing the request) was the best thing to do," he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6113093.html

[sonias]

27. License checkpoint plans tossed - AAS story link

AAS News Roundup 11/16/08
License checkpoint plans tossed

Plans to create driver's license checkpoints on Texas highways have been scrapped in the face of strong lawmaker opposition and suspicions that the proposal targeted illegal immigrants.

Allan Polunsky , chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety Commission, said Friday that he would withdraw a request for an attorney general's opinion on whether the checkpoints would be legal. DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the opinion request was sought only for "informational purposes."

DPS bad idea trial balloon meet hot red iron flame thrower. We win!

:woohoo:

Sonia