0
1
A growing number of Americans is protesting invasive Border Patrol checkpoints deep inside US territory by refusing to answer questions, and posting online their recordings of harassment by officers.
More and more YouTube videos document citizens’ resistance to the Border Patrol at checkpoints throughout the 100-mile zone along US borders. In some cases, motorists are waved through. In others, they are violently arrested and detained, simply for refusing to answer questions or consent to searches.
In one example, cited by Houston Chronicle reporter Dane Schiller, a Texas truck driver was forcibly removed from his truck, arrested and held for several hours after telling officers he was “opting out” of discussing his citizenship. Navy veteran Thomas Sauer, 26, says he lost his job as a result.
As he was being arrested, “they told me I had the right to remain silent,” Sauer told the Chronicle.