Is the Border Patrol racially profiling, far from the border?
"As the Border Patrol's ranks have increased in the San Diego area, so have reports of immigration-related traffic stops well away from the border. Since late last year, there have been at least four reports of motorists stopped by immigration officials and questioned in the interior of the county and beyond. Those who were stopped include a San Diego-born citizen who said she was pulled over by a marked Border Patrol vehicle Feb. 20 on southbound Interstate 5 in Oceanside. “As soon as I got on the freeway, I noticed a car following me,” said Maricela Orozco, 26, a student and telephone operator who was headed home to Escondido late at night after visiting her boyfriend. “A short time afterward, I noticed the lights on.” Orozco, who was driving a 1989 Honda Accord, said she pulled off the freeway. After she handed the agent her driver's license, “he asked me if I was born in Escondido.” After what she described as an unpleasant exchange, Orozco was allowed to continue."
LESLIE BERESTEIN in the San Diego Union-Tribune.