What are Border Patrol checkpoints?
First, let’s examine why a discussion of ferry terminal operations would include the term “checkpoint,” given that the expected association would be with a place where cars and trucks are inspected. Ferries operating on waterways are the functional equivalents of buses operating on paved highways. They are treated identically for checkpoint purposes. Near the southwestern border, buses routinely stop for inspection at Border Patrol highway checkpoints – ferries are subject to the same scrutiny under the same seat of procedures and legal parameters. Therefore, we will use the word “checkpoint” in referring to ferry operations, as this is what they effectively are. Border Patrol checkpoints are places where all traffic is required to stop for the purpose of inspection for aliens not lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States. They may take the form of permanent or tactical checkpoints. Permanent checkpoints are places that operate continuously and are characterized by establi
