U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are again staging an immigration checkpoint on Interstate 93 in the town of Woodstock, New Hampshire, approximately 75 miles from the international border.
In August, Border Patrol agents detained 25 undocumented immigrants, including several minors, during a weekend checkpoint. The majority of those detained were for overstaying their visas.
Thirty legal U.S. residents were also arrested by the Woodstock Police Department for various drug and alcohol related offenses.
“It’s another tool that helps us accomplish our mission,” says Bradley Curtis, a division chief for U.S. Customs, based in Swanton, Vermont. He says officials are ramping up these types of sweeps following an executive order issued by the Trump Administration. Curtis declined to comment on how long the current checkpoint, which began on Tuesday, would be in place, but stated there would likely be more events this year.
Under Federal rules, Border Patrol agents can set up these types of roadblocks within 100 miles of an international or coastal border. Civil liberties groups, including the ACLU, have unsuccessfully challenged those guidelines, arguing they violate Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure.
