On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 7:11 AM, Warren Redlich <[email protected]> wrote: > Eric will have to speak for himself, but he went with me to Buffalo and > filmed my Tea Party campaign speech. He was also active on the facebook > group yesterday. > > Sam - I didn't see your answer to my question about traffic safety > checkpoints. What do you think of them? > > Warren
This particular question has been the subject of the decisions by the United States Supreme Court, especially on the related subject of checkpoints to catch illegal immigrants. I believe that the court ruled that fixed checkpoints were constitutional but roving checkpoints were unconstitutional. I have a story to tell about that. I have never told this story to anyone before, so you will be the first to hear it. In 1981 I went to Los Angeles, California on company business and I rented a car. When I finished my business I had a few days left on the car rental so I drove down to Tijuana, Mexico and then across to another border town, Tecate Mexico. I was curious on the subject of illegal immigration which I had heard so much about, so I drove my car to the fence that marks the border of Mexico and the United States. There were several men leaning on or looking over the fence from the Mexican side. I speak almost fluent Spanish and I asked them if any of them wanted to go to America. Most of them were Mexicans who lived there. They had been to America before and did not want to go there again. However, one man was from Guatemala and he had just arrived at the fence. He said that he would like to go, so I told him that I would drive my car around to the American side of the fence and pick him up. He agreed. I drove my car through the regular US Immigration customs checkpoint. My car was checked and everything was OK. Then I drove around to the designated spot. This was daytime and he had had to walk across a wide field on the US side easily viewed from the immigration checkpoint, but he was there when my car arrived and he jumped in my car. What I did not realize at first was the only way out of Tecate was to drive to San Diego and from there one must drive on the expressway to Los Angeles. So, I did that. On the expressway between San Diego and Los Angeles there was an immigration checkpoint. I had not known about that either. As we approached the checkpoint there was no way to veer off the highway and avoid the immigration inspector. They had probably selected that spot for that reason. My passenger started asking me in Spanish, "It this the immigration? Is this the immigration?" I replied that this was not the immigration and not to worry about it. I knew perfectly well that this was the immigration, but I did not want my passenger to hunker down and hide and act guilty which would probably alert the immigration inspector. I wanted him to act normal. As it turned out the immigration inspector just waved us by and did not lean in our window to ask if we were American citizens. So, we made it to Los Angeles without further incident. I took him to Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles, the place where derelicts and winos hang out. My passenger had no money at all, not a penny. It was now nighttime. I found him a room for him in a flop house and paid $5 for the room. I also gave $5 to my passenger. I then returned the rental car and flew back to New York. I have often wondered what happened to my passenger. I imagine that he is still in Los Angeles to this day. Sam Sloan
