Samaniego will reinstate controversial checkpoints
Tammy Fonce-Olivas
El Paso Times
Oct 16, 2006
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is resuming traffic checkpoints halted this summer after allegations that deputies used them to target undocumented immigrants. "This is a public-safety issue, not an immigration issue," Sheriff Leo Samaniego said Tuesday as he announced that he is bringing the checkpoints back.
Samaniego said the stationary vehicle checkpoints he suspended in June are being reimplemented now that his staff has reviewed the training for deputies conducting the stops and has made some "cosmetic changes" to the policy allowing for the checkpoints.
The reviews determined that the policy and training were sufficient to carry out the program. The policy was altered slightly to make it clearer, he said.
"This again, I hope you all write it down and remember, is not aimed at identifying illegal aliens. We are not enforcing immigration laws. We are enforcing the traffic laws of the state of Texas," Samaniego said.
Saul Soto, an administrator with the Border Network for Human Rights, a group opposed to having local law enforcement enforce federal immigration laws, said his organization is not against checkpoints as a traffic safety program.
"The problem we had before is they were stopping people simply because they looked undocumented," Soto said.
Soto referred to the practice of singling out undocumented immigrants as a form of racial profiling.
He said the Sheriff's Office must be careful while carrying out this traffic safety program because the public's trust of the department will be eroded if deputies overstep their authority and try to enforce immigration laws at the checkpoints.
"If they don't have their license or insurance, give them a citation," Soto said about motorists at checkpoints. "Don't take it upon yourself to figure out what the federal laws are and start applying them."
Samaniego said the allegations earlier this year against his office about the checkpoints were based on "false information." He said his deputies were not out to enforce immigration laws.
East Side resident Saul Gutierrez said he's not opposed to the checkpoints or to having deputies use them to identify undocumented immigrants.
"Why not? If they are here illegally, they should be sent back," Gutierrez said.
However, Gutierrez said he doesn't want drivers to be asked for proof of auto insurance at checkpoints. He said the state law mandating that motorists carry auto insurance violates his constitutional rights and is nothing more than a money maker for insurance companies.
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