When Victor Fressie '05 tried to board a bus in White River Junction, Vt., last winter, two border patrol officers stared at him, followed him onto the vehicle and proceeded to check the identification of all passengers, he said.
Fressie, a native of Mexico, told The Dartmouth that when they got to him, they questioned him more thoroughly, asking about the exact date that he was naturalized. Fressie, who was 10 years old at the time of naturalization, could not remember.
"They only checked IDs on my bus, even though some buses were coming and leaving at the same time, and now that I realize it one guy stayed right outside the bus like they expected me to run away or something," Fressie said. "The only thing that differentiated me from other passengers is that I look Mexican, and for some reason, that piqued the interest of the border patrol."
The border patrol's stepped-up efforts in Vermont, which center around a stop on the southbound lanes of Interstate 91 past the intersection with Interstate 89, have become an inconvenience for many Dartmouth students.
Liz Madden '05, who has been stopped with other Dartmouth women during their weekly trips within the country with the Girls Mentoring Program, said she is puzzled by the border control's inspection procedures.
"Even though we always joke about the fact that there is a border patrol so far away from the Canadian border, we have never asked them for an explanation. It is more of an inconvenience than anything else," Madden said
Although the stop has been in place for the past 20 years, it began operating with greater consistency in December 2003 as a second inspection point to stop entrants to the United States.
According to Richard Kite, the senior patrol agent for the Vermont Border Patrol, the stop helps catch those entering from Canada who circumvent the border patrol checkpoints on the actual U.S.-Canadian border.
"Interstates serve as a primary route of egress away from the border," Kite said. "The stop stops the unimpeded access of the U.S. to smugglers."
When the border patrol stop is operating, the normal procedure for a stop is to ask whether the occupants in the car are U.S. citizens.
If nothing seems suspicious, officers wave the car onwards. A secondary stop, Kite said, is warranted based on a wide set of criteria.
Whether a person is stopped depends not only on the demeanor of the driver but also on whether there has been any intelligence received about or lookouts posted on potential criminals passing through, Kite said.
Many students like Fressie, however, may not agree with the border patrol's methods of choosing whom to inspect further.
Kite said that since the checkpoint became more effective in 2003, thousands of foreign nationals who were illegally in the United States have been apprehended, including some with outstanding warrants or contraband.
"Effective and efficient border patrol doesn't stop at the border," Kite said.
