This story was updated at 9:07 a.m. on Nov. 28 to include a statement from Customs and Border Protection.
[V]ermont’s congressional delegation sharply criticized plans by U.S. Border Patrol to deploy immigration checkpoints in the interior of the state.
Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., issued a joint statement Tuesday afternoon calling plans to hold “a number” of checkpoints around the state “another escalation of the Trump Administration’s aggressive yet wasteful use of immigration enforcement resources.”
“While these checkpoints will cause needless delays for travelers and hinder commerce between Vermont and Canada, we are not convinced that they will make Vermont or the United States any safer,” the three lawmakers wrote.
The delegation released the statement after members of their staff were briefed by border authorities about plans to operate immigration checkpoints, before Border Patrol released any details of the plans to the public, according to Leahy spokesperson David Carle.
A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, which oversees Border Patrol, said in a statement that operations away from the border are “vital” to the agency’s approach to national security, and they directly support border enforcement efforts by trying to crack down on smuggling and other criminal activity related to the international boundary.
“These checkpoint operations are designed to be minimally intrusive. Agents ask simple questions and use their training, experience, and current intelligence to quickly make decisions on travelers’ citizenship or residency,” the spokesperson said.
CBP would not share information about the timing or location of immigration checkpoints, saying the information is “sensitive.”
Under federal law, Border Patrol has broad authority to conduct searches of vehicles within 100 miles of the border, including international waters. Roughly two-thirds of the United States population lives in that zone.
Border authorities’ search powers away from international boundaries have been a subject of increasing contention.
Earlier this year, Leahy and Welch introduced bills to reduce the zone where officers have enhanced search powers from 100 miles from the border to 25 miles. Under the legislation, authorities would only be able to hold immigration checkpoints within 10 miles of the border. Sanders is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
Carle said the legislators’ staff understood the checkpoints would be held in the interior of Vermont, but did not have specific details on where and when they would occur.
Border Patrol’s authority to conduct searches well within the border is not new, though instances seem to have become more frequent under the Trump administration. Earlier this year, Border Patrol officers questioned passengers on an Amtrak train in White River Junction and a Greyhound bus in Burlington about their citizenship status. Border Patrol also set up a series of checkpoints in New Hampshire.
The lawmakers said they were concerned the new checkpoints would violate constitutional guarantees of privacy, and “instill fear” in immigrant communities, including among those who have documented status.
“We believe that inside our country the phrase ‘show me your papers’ does not belong in the United States of America,” they said.
James Lyall, head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, said in a statement that Border Patrol has been “allowed to operate with impunity” for too long.
“Vermonters know that Border Patrol checkpoints offend everything it means to live a free society, where people going about their daily business shouldn’t have to answer to armed federal agents,” Lyall said.
Lyall called on members of Vermont’s delegation to refuse to increase funding for Border Patrol in upcoming budgets.
“Vermonters who oppose checkpoints should make their demands clear: no more taxpayer funding for civil and human rights abuse,” he said.
