On Thursday, HB 624 came before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. The bill would require that state police provide notice to the public when they have been informed by federal agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection, of traffic checkpoints being set up for the purposes of immigration enforcement.
This notification procedure would be similar to the way that police in New Hampshire are required to notify the public of sobriety checkpoints.
This bill was sponsored by Rep. Christine Seibert (D-Manchester) and co-sponsored by Keene Reps. Joe Schapiro and Jodi Newell. This legislation was considered last year as HB 579, which passed resoundingly in the House last year but failed in the Senate on a straight party-line vote.
Sebastian Fuentes, Movement Politics Director for Rights and Democracy, spoke in favor of the bill:
I am in front of you as one of the many US Citizens and NH residents stopped under no suspicion by Border Patrol in New Hampshire. I lived in Thornton, NH just miles away from the Woodstock / Thornton area where border patrols were set on Interstate 93 many times. I traveled that way to go to work, grab my children from school, do errands as simple as grocery shopping, etc.
CBP has authority over 100 miles of any border, that includes the coastline of NH. 100 miles from Canada going south, 100 miles from Portsmouth going West.
To be more specific, Border Patrol can stop you while riding your motorcycle on your way to Laconia Bike week…. They can stop you in Nashua while going to your local Market Basket, they can stop you in Hanover while driving for medical care at Dartmouth Medical. They can stop you while grabbing a cup of coffee at your local Dunkin Donuts.
Now I am a supporter of border security, reasonable and humane border security. It is a personal wish of mine to have these border checkpoints to be moved 10 to 15 miles from the border. That is reasonable. 100 miles from all US borders is an abuse of federal power. Two-thirds of US population live inside these 100 miles from any border line jurisdiction.
Sebastian Fuentes described his experience during one of the incidents when he was stopped during one of these checkpoints:
During another stop I was stopped close to an hour with a couple of friends, one of them of Muslim origins wearing a hijab. We didn’t comply, following our fourth amendment rights. CBP officers told us to stay in our vehicles, windows up while they were ¨processing¨
Mind you, this was in the middle of summer, with the windows down it gets really hot inside a vehicle. I told the officer that I had breathing issues (asthma) and I needed to get some fresh air. My request was ignored.
Right before the hour, CBP office came back with a clipboard with the Facebook profile picture of the driver, my Muslim friend. A photo that she does not use for any office purpose as her driver’s license or citizenship forms. This was her Facebook profile picture.
Its worth remembering that, not long ago, our country had a rogue Department of Homeland Security, headed by an Acting Secretary, never approved by the Senate and accountable to no one but Donald Trump.
These traffic checkpoints in NH have not been happening since the pandemic, but one can expect that if Republicans get back into White House in 2024, regular violations of people's Fourth Amendment rights will be back on the menu. If and when that happens, HB 624 can provide some minor respite.