Sierra Blanca Checkpoint in Hudspeth County, Texas is Still Doing a Booming Business
The Hudspeth County courthouse in Sierra Blanca, Texas continues to do a booming business by virtue of its strategic location near the Federal checkpoint on Interstate 10 just a short distance away.
Sierra Blanca's checkpoint is known as a "functional equivalent of the border"; this is due to its strategic location along the Mexican border just 15 miles from the Rio Grande--which enables the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to search cars for drugs and illegal aliens without warrants or probable cause. Federal Law treats these checkpoints just like the border: all who stop are subject to being searched.
Recently, Customs agents with drug dogs have been patrolling the long lines of vehicles stretching for as far as 1/2 mile on some occasions. The dogs bump the cars with their trained noses,"alerting" when drugs or marijuana are detected; the drivers are then exited from their vehicles and the dogs enter the cars and narrow the search. Often entire vehicles are seen unloaded upon the ground, parts of their interiors strewn about the pavement.
Folks caught with small amounts of marijuana or drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, and other illegal substances are detained and then turned over the the Hudspeth County Sheriff for prosecution under Texas law.
Larger amounts of drugs and very large amounts of marijuana (usually over 100 lbs.) are referred to the Federal authorities and end up in Federal Court either in Alpine or El Paso.
Since I first started representing people in Sierra Blanca, the little town has sprouted 2 new motels, a few new restaurants, and a new Federal prison unit for illegal aliens detained here or awaiting deportation. Local Bail-Bondsmen make bonds for the arrested unfortunates, and the local sheriff impounds vehicles which are kept in private lots until their owners are bailed out, and can then bail out their automobiles.
Business is so good there it takes two state Felony District Courts to handle those arrested and charged at Sierra Blanca. One judge is out of Alpine, the other from El Paso. Both are over a hundred miles away.
I enjoy the challenge presented by these cases in Sierra Blanca, and have found it to be personally rewarding to be able to help my clients avoid dire consequences due to their unfortunate arrests at this remote checkpoint. Most have never been arrested before, and many are college kids from good families who end up spending a few days in the Hudspeth County Jail for being in the Wrong place, Wrong time.
