http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/0813N01.html


Friday, 13 August 1999

Border merchant says: Agents, keep out

Judge is asked to limit patrol's searches

By Ignacio Ibarra
The Arizona Daily Star

A Lukeville businessman wants a federal judge to bar Border Patrol agents from entering his property to conduct searches and question employees and patrons without a warrant.
A.E. Gay, who owns and operates a service station, cafe, grocery store and RV park through his company, Gringo Pass Inc., has filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order, scheduled to be heard at 2 p.m. today by District Judge John M. Roll in Tucson.
Gay said he's asking for the restraining order because he's tired of seeing his customers and employees harassed by overzealous Border Patrol agents convinced they have unlimited authority within 25 miles of the border.
``I want them to stay off the property unless they are in hot pursuit, or they have a warrant. Other agencies abide by that - why can't they?'' Gay said. ``The bottom line is that we, the people of America, are losing our rights, and we have to make a decision to protect those rights even if it means taking on these federal agencies.''
Rob Daniels, spokesman for the Border Patrol, said it is agency policy not to comment on outstanding litigation.
The legal authority of U.S. immigration officers to act without a warrant away from the border is described in Title 8 of United States Code 1357.
Within 25 miles of the border, immigration officers may ``have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent illegal entry,'' the code states.
Gay said his customers and employees are mainly Hispanic, and Hispanics appear to be the focus of the Border Patrol's interest.
``If you're brown, they're going to stop you. It's the same all along the border,'' he said.
Gay said agents routinely come into his grocery store demanding identification and proof of citizenship from customers and employees. They also search the business - even walking behind the counter in the meat department and into the storage room at the back of the store.
The agents also roam his parking lot, looking into vehicles while the owners are inside shopping. It's not unusual for them to set up surveillance operations and even seize suspected smuggling vehicles on his property, Gay said.
He said one supervisory agent acts as if the cafe were his private office, spending two to three hours a day at a table, conducting business while sipping coffee or tea.
Gay said Border Patrol intrusions have been common over the 30 years he's been in the area, but he became more aware of the problem last year after the death of his son, who had been managing his businesses.
Gay isn't the only one complaining.
In Naco, Ariz., Luis Valenzuela, manager of the Papagayo Club, a combination bar and store, said he's had similar problems with agents. He said he's also asked his attorney to file a complaint on his behalf.
``The other day they came in and started asking everyone for papers. They even asked my dad for ID, and he's owned this business since 1961,'' said Valenzuela. ``One of them started going into the back, but I threw him out and told him, `If you want to search this place, go and get a warrant or ask me politely for permission.' ''
Down the street, at the Gay 90s bar, Leonel Urcadez said the same type of thing has happened at his business, and his customers, some of them veterans, find it offensive to have their citizenship questioned.
``Some of them look at it as joke, but some of them do get offended,'' Urcadez said. ``I think the problem is that there are a lot of new agents, and they don't take the time to get to know the people in the community.''


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