WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities may use checkpoints around the country’s capital to screen vehicles and sometimes sought their immigrant status after stopping them as President Donald Trump’s crackdown reaches Washington’s two-week mark.
The use of legally controversial checkpoints is White House The massive deportation agenda is central to Washington’s federal government’s claims of power. Federal agents and hundreds of National Guard forces surged into Washington this month, putting some residents on the edge, creating tense conflicts on the streets.
The city’s Immigrant populationespecially rattles. a Day care Staff heard about nearby federal agents and were partially closed Thursday, fearing staff would go to work. The administrator asked parents to keep their children home if possible.
On other days, I stopped taking my kids for my daily walks because of fear of encountering law enforcement.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser On Thursday, he acknowledged that the surge in traffic checkpoints is an inevitable aspect of federal law enforcement operations.
“The surge in federal officials allows for different kinds of deployments, more frequent types of deployments, like checkpoints,” Bowser says.
According to the White House, when Trump began pushing federal agents into the city on August 7th, 630 arrests were found. Trump has since leaned under pressure, taking control of the DC police station on August 11th, deploying more National Guard troops from states primarily Republican-led.
Soldiers are stationed primarily in downtown areas, including national malls and monuments at transit stations.
However, federal agents are more widely active across the city. And some will soon visit from the president himself.
Trump is scheduled to take part in the DC patrol Thursday night. He spoke of his plans Todd Sturnesa conservative commentator.
It’s not a normal traffic stop
On Thursday morning, when Martin Romero overcomes Rock Creek Park in Washington on his way to construction work in Virginia, he saw police on the road ahead. He thought it was a normal traffic stop, but it wasn’t.
Romero, 41, said U.S. Parks Police are reminding a pickup truck with the company’s logo that commercial vehicles are not permitted on park roads. They checked their licenses and insurance information, and then came the US immigration and customs mandatory agents.
Romero said he had two agents on one side of the track and two agents on the other. He began to get nervous as agents asked where they came from and whether they were illegally in the country.
“We came here to work,” Romero said afterwards. “We’re not doing anything bad.”
The two people in his truck were taken into custody and the agents gave no reason, he said. He also saw three other people collected from other vehicles.
“They took two of us, so I’m really worried,” he said. “They wouldn’t have said where they were taking them or if they could come back.”
Romero said he called his boss. He told me to just go home. They are not working today.
Enrique Martinez, the construction company’s supervisor, came to the scene later. He contemplated whether to call the family of the man who was detained.
“This has never happened to our company before,” Martinez said. “I really don’t know what to do.”
Checkpoints are legal
The Supreme Court upheld the use of law enforcement and government checkpoints for specific purposes, including police the border and identifying suspected drunk drivers.
However, there are limitations to its authority, especially when it comes to crime management in general. Jeffrey Bellina former prosecutor in Washington and a professor at the Vanderbilt Law School, who specializes in criminal law and procedures, said the constitution “does not allow the government to constantly check us and stop it to see if we are committing criminal acts.”
He said checkpoints for legally justifiable purposes (such as checking driver licenses or registrations) cannot be used as an excuse for “diving” or unauthorized stops. The court then confirmed the use of checkpoints at the border, but asked drivers about immigrant status as it is far from there, but Belin said it is unlikely that authorities will expand to Washington.
Anthony Michael KreisA Georgia State Legislative Professor said the “arbitrary and intrusive nature of the capital’s checkpoints is plaguing residents.
“Some things may be completely constitutional and great, but at the same time, the way things are unfolding, people are questionable – and I’m thinking for good reasons,” he said.
Los Angeles to DC
Few places have not been affected by Trump’s deportation drive, but his push to DC has been shaped into something more sustainable, similar to what has been unfolding in the Los Angeles area since early June.
In Los Angeles, immigration officers working with the Border Patrol and other federal agencies were almost a day’s presence in Home Depots, car washes and other very visible places.
In a demonstration of how enforcement affected everyday life, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, formally excused their weekly duties to attend the masses after immigration agents detained people on the property of two parishes.
Immigrant staff are extraordinarily public and famous in the city. MacArthur Park He has appeared outside the California government. Gavin Newsom Last week’s press conference on parliamentary constituencies. Authorities said agents fired fire on a moving vehicle last week after the driver refused to roll the windows during immigration halt.
The National Guard and Marines were previously in the city to maintain order amidst the protest.
A federal judge blocked the administration from suspending indiscriminate immigration in Southern California, but authorities vowed to maintain pressure.
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Associated Press authors Eric Tucker and Ashraf Halil of Washington and Elliot Spagat of San Diego reported.
