Stop and searches on I-10?

darsben wrote:
Stops are also a fact of life along the Canadian border.
I appreciate that the Border patrol is keeping illegals out. What upsets me is that the stops are also used to check for other things. Tax free cigarettes,etc.

Tax free cigarettes are smuggled contraband, and a federal as well as a State matter since part of the unpaid taxes are due the Feds. Looking for smugglers of such goods is one of the direct responsibilities of the Border Patrol.

Stops are also a fact of life along the Canadian border.
I appreciate that the Border patrol is keeping illegals out. What upsets me is that the stops are also used to check for other things. Tax free cigarettes,etc. The border patrol then notifies state police. That is why I dislike TSA and border patrol They go beyond keeping our borders safe into enforcing laws for other jurisdiction.

They make no friends with me when they pull me over and search the vehicle. They have never found anything but my rights are being violated. Border patrol has the right to search without a warrant under the guise of looking for illegals so they can do what no other police force can.
TSA routinely looks for large amounts of cash in peoples carry on. It is not illegal to carry cash in the U.S. but TSA will inform the local police who may seize the money as "drug money" even though they have no proof.
You are forced to hire an attorney and prove it WAS NOT drug money.
SInce they want to do these things to citizens of the United States without cause they are scum of the earth to me.
Let them start to do the job of PROTECTING U.S. citizens and nothing else then they will have my support.

I spoke with a National Park Ranger who was a native of El Paso and Hispanic. He told me he was coming back from visiting family in the Rio Grande Valley and was stopped by Border Patrol. He had his uniform hanging in the back of the car and as a curtesy told the BP he had a weapon in the car and a concealed carry permit. The dog hit on something in his car and they dragged him out into their offices and he underwent intensive questioning while they searched his car. Turned out the dog had a false positive hit and there was nothing there. The BP only let him go when he'd reached the end of his rope with them and told them he wanted to speak with their Supervisor and have him or her contact his Supervisor with the Park Service.

mlts22 wrote:
First time I heard of this, but I was warned several times that I-10 is having random stop and searches of drivers going between San Antonio and El Paso with either drug dogs, or actively ripping a vehicle apart to look for controlled substances or firearms. Because this is considered a Border Patrol search, normal probable cause rules do not apply.

Is this yet another random "conspiracy" story that we read about all the time without any real merit or any concrete facts, or is this something to be concerned about on a trip to NM and back? I just want to fact check this early on.

I think the people who have replied so far missed your actual question. You are asking about more than just a border patrol checkpoint. I'm not in Texas so I've never heard of this. One thing I can tell you is the border exception for searches only applies at the border. One of the ways the Supreme Court has justified this is because it's considered a voluntary search. It's voluntary because everybody knows you'll be searched if you cross the border so if you don't want to be searched don't cross the border. It's the same theory as searches at the airport are voluntary. If you don't want to do it, don't fly.

Now before somebody tells me I'm wrong, we have to define search. Having a dog sniff the outside of your car is not a search that requires probable cause. Stopping you in looking inside your vehicle from the outside, is not a search that require probable cause. Going into your vehicle and "ripping it apart" to look for drugs or firearms is a search that would require probable cause or an exception such as while crossing the actual border.

So my guess is these searches you describe are not happening. If somebody has witnessed a vehicle on the side of the road being searched, then the officers or agents likely developed probable cause to conduct that search.

Hey OP.......it's your story.
Several warnings about random searches from whom?

Doubt the Border Control is ripping apart vehicles without some justification so you shouldn't be concerned.

Of course if concerned you can always avoid the checkpoints

Borer Patrol Checkpoints

H345 wrote:
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If you are legal , thank them for doing a good job !

If you are not legal , oh well !

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If you're not, I'll thank them !!!

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If you are legal , thank them for doing a good job !

If you are not legal , oh well !

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Just saw a dog check on I-5 near San Clemente,Tuesday. Two Border Patrol Trucks with dog and a county sheriff pulled over a pickup with a fiberglas bed cover.

I go from Casa Grande to Anza Borrego sometimes twice a year for the past 9 or ten years on I8,whitch is right on the border and once the dogs sniff your vehicle your on your way.One time after seeing the USMC vet tag,they waved me by as the guy said Semper Fi

We've had to go through checkpoints many times when we lived/worked in west Texas, most of the time, they just ask where you are a citizen, have a good day and wave you on. There is one checkpoint that I know o that has a dog on duty all the time, but it is in an area where they used to move drugs. That has pretty much stopped now. I'm sure there are other checkpoints where they have dogs.

Smile, be polite, take your sunglasses off, don't volunteer more than a simple direct answer to their questions and especially don't carry any kind of illegal drugs and you will most likely never be searched.

Enjoy your trip