As the immigration dragnet widens, checkpoints and traffic stops are proving to be powerful instruments in the Trump administration’s detention and deportation toolkit. With federal agents deployed in cities like Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago, these roadblocks have met pushback from community members.
While the checkpoints that appeared in D.C. last month were a stunning development for many local residents, checkpoints have long been a presence near the country’s borders. Dozens of Customs and Border Protection-run checkpoints dot roads near the U.S. border with Mexico. But immigration checkpoints run by federal and other law enforcement agents were virtually unheard of away from the borders, before the Trump administration launched its mass detention campaign.
The Supreme Court made special scrutiny of immigration status near borders legal in 1976 — long before Trump was elected. Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and all of Florida fall within a 100-mile zone that encompasses both land borders and coastlines, an area in which CBP officers can run temporary or stationary checkpoints. These officers can stop, search and check the immigration status of anyone in a vehicle, plane or vessel in these areas.
While roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in this border zone, checkpoints have been a less common sight beyond the highways that flow from the country’s land borders. The checkpoints that have popped up during the ongoing federal takeover of law enforcement in D.C. are unusual, both in location and in who is operating them: A hodgepodge of federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, often working in tandem with local officers — not CBP. Trump declared a “crime emergency” to justify taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department, but the checkpoints laid bare the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.
One construction worker in Washington, D.C., described being pulled over, first by U.S. Park Police, and then being surrounded by ICE officers, who asked whether he was in the country illegally. Two of his passengers were detained, according to WTOP News.
As the immigration checkpoints expand across the country, they have sparked reactions from community members who have called out ICE agents for wearing masks, criticized the cooperation of local police, and organized to record and witness as neighbors are detained.
Some people have held signs warning approaching drivers of ICE’s presence; some have documented traffic stops and detentions. Others have reported checkpoints and ICE sightings to a mutual aid hotline, contributing to a real-time warning system, and collected information on anyone who is detained, according to The 51st.
Protesters said their efforts intend to send a message to federal immigration agents: We see you. That was a primary goal of community members and elected officials who gathered outside an ICE office last week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, far from the 100-mile border zone. For months, a mix of residents, clergy, elected officials and activists have watched outside the local ICE field office as immigrants enter the building for their required check-ins. Some advocates accompany people to their appointments.
“We’re saying ICE can't work in the shadows, that we're paying attention, that we're showing up, that we're watching,” said the Rev. Jonathan Heifner, a pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, who has been a consistent presence at the ICE office for the past year.
Before the Sept. 2 check-in, organizers of the monthly rally outside the office said they were surprised to receive word from Homeland Security officials that the agency planned to set up a checkpoint and blockades to limit the presence of protesters. Alejandra Escobar, an organizer with the immigrant advocacy organization Escucha Mi Voz, said organizers were warned that nearby businesses had signed “trespass warnings” with the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and agreed to tow anyone who parked near the office to protest. Escobar said a local business told her there was no such agreement.
“It’s just them trying to instill fear, and it’s absolutely unnecessary,” said Escobar of ICE.
More than 250 protesters showed up on Sept. 2. While police tape left protesters crammed into a smaller area than they were used to, the “checkpoint” turned out to be one ICE officer, checking the papers of people who arrived for their appointments.
Each time someone emerged from the building following their appointment, the crowd would erupt in cheers, according to Kathy McCue, an Iowa City resident who attended the rally. While four immigrants were granted one-year extensions, The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported that three others did not emerge from the building and were detained.
In a statement, ICE called reports of checkpoints during the recent protest “entirely false” and said that the agency respects the right to peacefully protest. The agency said the police tape was used “because of prior incidents of vandalism” and protesters blocking traffic or access to the building. Organizers of the protest rejected the accusations.
Another checkpoint permutation emerged in Florida last month, where longstanding state infrastructure was offered to federal agents. On Aug. 25, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that 23 commercial truck inspection and weigh stations would begin doubling as immigration checkpoints. The move came after a man from India driving a tractor-trailer allegedly made a wrong U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, causing a collision that killed three people. The driver, Harjinder Singh, had a commercial driver’s license from California, but is accused of being in the U.S. undocumented. He now faces criminal charges.
The web of immigration stops and checkpoints is amplified by the cooperation of local law enforcement. Border Czar Tom Homan has been clear that local officers make the job of federal immigration agents easier, while the lack of cooperation in some sanctuary cities can pose a roadblock for the administration’s goals.
“That's where the problem is,” Homan said on CNN, as he confirmed plans to send federal agents to Chicago. “We don't have that problem in Florida, where every sheriff and chief works for us, right? Or Texas. So, we got to send additional resources to the problem areas, which are sanctuary cities.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court added fuel to the immigration dragnet’s engine by nullifying a federal judge’s order that had blocked indiscriminate immigration-related stops in California. The justices lifted restrictions on immigration patrols across L.A., which had prohibited federal agents from stopping anyone based solely on factors like their perceived ethnicity.
Civil rights and immigration advocates decried the justices’ ruling as tantamount to legalizing racial profiling. They said they will continue their work monitoring ICE in their communities, and any checkpoints that materialize.
“We're gonna keep showing up no matter what they do to try to deter us,” said Escobar in Iowa. “We’re gonna keep watching.”