Border patrol detains ex-Arizona governor, 96, after finding he's a RADIATION risk

Welcome to the Constitution-free zone! The 96-year-old was illegally detained outside in 97-degree hear for half an hour.

UK Daily Mail: Border patrol detains ex-Arizona governor, 96, after finding he's a RADIATION risk

Quizzed over his identity? As soon as you have identified yourself as a U.S. citizen, you are supposed to be free to go.

More in the Arizona Daily Star:
Border Patrol detains former Arizona Gov. Castro after radiation alarm is tripped

They are not supposed to be checking the identification of American citizens. They are supposed to ask if you are a U.S. citizen, and if the answer is "yes", that's the end of the questioning.

 

"They felt bad when he felt flustered." Oh, poor agents! Poor, sympathetic, compassionate agents! We don't want you to feel bad! After all, you were just doing your job. You have to treat people like they're criminals. You can't help it! It's For Our Safety! (Just like officials treated Shoshana Hebshi; just like the TSA treats people every day. It's all For Our Safety!)

Obnoxious thugs.

 

I wonder what machine they used to scan the fellow's body? geiger counter? or x-ray...

the sympathy of these CBP goons is touching, as Lisa says. we are fortunate to have such compassion in our border guard, even when they're nowhere near the border.

 

Seems to me they had probable cause.

 

Probable cause would require that the law enforcement officer get a search warrant.

The case law regarding the "Constitution-free zone" is very clear:

U.S. citizen?​

​

Yes.​

​

Have a nice day, sir.​

On a different note, these device are triggering on very small amounts of radiation left over from medical procedures, resulting in intrusive searches regarding medical histories and procedures that are none of the law enforcement officer's business and completely outside his competence. They are triggering on way too low a level of radiation, and law enforcement officers are using it to detain people and conduct warrantless searches. We really need to have the right case come up and someone ticked off enough about it to sue.

If they did start obtaining search warrants for these intrusions, they would be contested and quite likely the shenanigans would be forced to end.

 

A machine so finely calibrated that it alarms on routine medical treatments does not constitute probable cause IMHO. It is abuse.

 

I grew up around there, and my grandmother lived not far from Tubac. So sad, it used to be such a nice area to go for a drive.

Just want to add for clarity, it is quite close to the border. From my sense of the area I-19 near Tubac is definitely "border patrol" territory. Though I agree what they pulled here was inexcusable.

 

Fed Cops: Update on Detention of Former Arizona Governor Raul Castro

I blogged previously about the Border Patrol’s inexcusable, abusive detention of former Arizona Gov. Raul Castro at one of their interior checkpoints, forcing the 96-year-old to wait at least 30 minutes outside his vehicle and then further harassing the U.S. citizen to produce identification and sign papers.

I’ve since found an excellent first-person account of the event by his travel companion and assistant, Anne Doan ...

Another article has since revealed that this was the former governor’s third unpleasant encounter with the Border Patrol’s authoritarian ...

 

I found about about these two article from this one:

San Diego Free Press: U.S. Border Patrol Gone Wild: “If the U.S. is not a Police State now, it soon will be!” (Aug 4 2012)

It's a bit off the wall, but it's also useful to understand the extremes of dislike that the Border Patrol's abusive behavior inspires. If it continues, there will be payback some day, perhaps soon.

Here's some data from the Pew Research Center: 91.7% - Minorities Account for Nearly All U.S. Population Growth

Some demographic facts according to Pew (I'm putting them in bullet form but the wording is taken verbatim from Pew):

• Overall, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 91.7% of the nation's population growth over the past 10 years.
• The non-Hispanic white population has accounted for only the remaining 8.3% of the nation's growth.
• Hispanics were responsible for 56% of the nation's population growth over the past decade.
• There are now 50.5 million Latinos living in the U.S. according to the 2010 Census, up from 35.3 million in 2000, making Latinos the nation's largest minority group and 16.3% of the total population.

Reconquista is well underway!

 

We really need to take a weed-whacker to the Border Patrol. They're starting to look like TSA with guns.

 

That's basically what they are: If hired from the bottom of the barrel w/o adequate background investigation, training & supervision:

• with guns = CBP/ICE
• w/o guns = TSA