Texas Troopers Putting Up Border Checkpoints
South Texas residents are turning to Facebook to keep one step ahead of roving roadside checkpoints set up by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
DPS Troopers say they are searching for unsafe drivers and not immigration violators.
For the past week DPS checkpoints popped up seemingly randomly in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. According to officials this is a short-term, multi-agency law enforcement effort that is targeting various criminal activities and unsafe driving behaviors in South Texas.
The problem is many of the residents in the area are in the county illegally and can’t get a Texas driver's license, auto insurance or even a legal title to their vehicle.
John Michael Torres is the spokesperson for La Union del Pueblo Entero, or LUPE.
“People are really concerned, frustrated, scarred and angry, mad," Torres said.
Torres said there are reports that some of the busted violators are being turned over to ICE for deportation. But the DPS says no immigration arrests have been made at the checkpoints.
Local residents have taken to social media and are posting the locations of the random DPS checkpoints that are popping up. But Torres warns that sometimes that information is inaccurate.
