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 …<\/p>\n
Apparently, that’s the new reality<\/a> in south Florida — today, in this country, if your appearance might cause a CBP officer to wonder if you’re here lawfully.<\/p>\n Federal immigration agents are beefing up their efforts to apprehend undocumented immigrants in South Florida as part of a nationwide effort to \u201ckeep communities safe.\u201d<\/p>\n The target: transportation hubs.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n [ … ]<\/p>\n CBP agents, according to federal law, don\u2019t need a warrant<\/span> to \u201cwithin 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The law defines a \u201creasonable distance\u201d as 100 air miles from the coastal border \u2014 which covers the entire state of Florida.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading \n