We all have watched one of those creepy World War II movies: A Jewish family is on a train destined for a German border town, planning to escape; we hear heavy-booted footsteps in the corridor, followed by a knock on the door; a Gestapo officer demands to see their travel papers …
Apparently, that’s the new reality in south Florida — today, in this country, if your appearance might cause a CBP officer to wonder if you’re here lawfully.
Federal immigration agents are beefing up their efforts to apprehend undocumented immigrants in South Florida as part of a nationwide effort to “keep communities safe.”
The target: transportation hubs.
In the past few weeks, Customs and Border Patrol officials have been spotted by commuters at Greyhound bus stations across Miami-Dade and Broward counties, asking riders on board, or in the process of boarding a bus, for proof of legal status.
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CBP agents, according to federal law, don’t need a warrant to “within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States … board and search for aliens in any vessel within the territorial waters of the United States and any railcar, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle.”
The law defines a “reasonable distance” as 100 air miles from the coastal border — which covers the entire state of Florida.
This amounts to accosting people in public thoroughfares and demanding proof that they aren’t breaking any laws — and so much for the Fourth Amendment.