Quote Originally Posted by boyfunk
Without intending to hijack the thread, under the a similar theory to what you describe, I've always wondered why the Feds are allowed to post people on I-5 50 miles north of San Diego as an "immigration checkpoint" for drivers headed northbound. Near as I can tell, the deal is you slow down, the Feds look in your car, and if you don't look Mexican, they let you pass. And if you do, they stop and ask you for ID and so forth. Seems to me that's unconstitutional, since they're targeting people based on appearance instead of any legitimate reason to think the person might be a non-citizen. Anybody from southern california (or elsewhere) know how they get away with this?
Yeah I know what you're talking about. I think that the border patrol there does some CYOA with the manner in which they stop and search folk. I've pulled up to that San Onofre check point and seen a car next to me full of white as rice yuppy types get pointed over to the search area, and seen pickup trucks full of Hispanics about which I've thought "Oh... they're gonna get pulled aside" get waved through without so much as a second glance.

So I think they intentionally go about making it a point to be able to say they don't stop people based upon race alone so as to give any searches they do conduct more weight.