Chicago DUI lawyer comments on ICE, DUI, and roadblocks

This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here about the consequences of DUI and undocumented people. Now it looks like local law enforcement has expanded the DUI roadblock exception to assist the Feds.

September 8, Kings Beach, CA

A handful of illegal immigrants detained last week by federal agents after being arrested near a DUI checkpoint on Lake Tahoe's North Shore have since been deported.

On Tuesday, Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said “several” of the 12 subjects detained at the Friday, Aug. 28, checkpoint in Kings Beach were deported last week to their home countries after being identified as illegals.

She declined to name the subjects, saying ICE doesn't release the names of deported persons because the matter is administrative, not criminal. Kice also said she couldn't release the exact number of those deported.

The checkpoint near the intersection of Highways 28 and 267 in Kings Beach was operated by the Truckee-based California Highway Patrol, which used the site to detain three DUI drivers.

“Of the 12 individuals we identified who were potentially deportable, 10 were the subject of ICE detainers and the other two were arrested on local charges,” Kice said.

The subjects were housed at the Placer County Jail in Auburn, because ICE doesn't have a detention facility in Northern California, Kice said.

Once their immigration status were determined, ICE either deported the subjects or placed a detainer on them so the subjects may face local and state charges.

Here's the rub. The purpose of the roadblock was DUI and other infractions. I'm curious how they discovered these 12 individuals were illegally here. Did they all have a valid reason to be stopped at the roadblock? Were all of them drivers or were some passengers? Folks right now, you aren't required to carry identification on your person. This strikes me largely as a government expansion of the use of roadblocks. Oh sure, right now, like the commenters in the article said, you don't mind. How long before those roadblocks are used to pick up folks behind in child support payments or those who owe money to local governments for tickets? I can see lots of uses for roadblocks aside from public safety. Remember, they arrested a whopping three drivers for DUI.