Replies

Landmark case supporting this Border Patrol action:

US Supreme Court, Decided July 6, 1976:
UNITED STATES v. MARTINEZ-FUERTE, 428 U.S. 543 (1976)

1. The Border Patrol's routine stopping of a vehicle at a permanent checkpoint located on a major highway away from the Mexican border for brief questioning of the vehicle's occupants is consistent with the Fourth Amendment, and the stops and questioning may be made at reasonably located checkpoints in the absence of any individualized suspicion that the particular vehicle contains illegal aliens. Pp. 556-564 ...

HOWEVER, that does NOT mean it is RIGHT! IMO, some tell-tale indications of this (i.e., that the SCOTUS is turning a blind eye to the 4th Amendment) is WITHIN this SCOTUS Opinion:

There also was a grave danger that such unreviewable discretion would be abused by some officers in the field.
As we have noted earlier, one's expectation of privacy in an automobile and of freedom in its operation are significantly different from the traditional expectation of privacy and freedom in one's residence. [and if I pull up to a Checkpoint in my RV that I'm living out of, what then?]
It is agreed that checkpoint stops are "seizures" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
In summary, we hold that stops for brief questioning [note: "stops," NOT search and seizure] routinely conducted at permanent checkpoints are consistent with the Fourth Amendment and need not be authorized by warrant.

WHY did the Framers give YOU and I protections under the Fourth Amendment? How has it "evolved" since their dealings with the British vs the problems we face in 2009?

Psst ... the Colonists had to deal with terrorism, illegal immigration, disease control and contraband, too!

Police have the right to reel in wrongdoers BUT not to go on fishing expeditions.

If you are willing to give up your Rights, then you are subject to (AND deserving of) whatever new Law or Judicial ruling that ANY public official is willing to "modify" from the Bill of Rights -- all in the name of the "public good".