Interacting with Border Patrol agents can be frightening and depending on what you say if questioned, you may be detained and taken into custody for further investigation. It’s important to understand what rights you have at interior checkpoints and when engaging with Border Patrol. Here’s what you should know.
What Border Patrol Agents Can Do
Border Patrol agents can legally occupy any area “within a reasonable distance of any external boundary of the United States.” An acceptable distance from those borders is considered 100 air miles.
Agents have the right to board cars and other vessels at certain points within these areas, as well as stop traffic on roads or highways to interrogate people near the border. If a Border Patrol agent suspects that you are an illegal immigrant or have committed a crime, they may have the right to search your person and property and/or arrest you.
What You Can Do
You have the right to remain silent if asked questions by a Border Patrol agent. You can tell the agent you won’t answer any questions without your lawyer present. You are not legally required to answer questions about your immigration status, except in certain cases where the immigrant has specific permission to be in the U.S. for a particular reason for a specified amount of time.
Otherwise, you can decline to answer questions and you may not be searched, arrested, or detained simply for exercising your right to remain silent. If you are detained, you can ask why and the Patrol agent must inform you of the reason you are being held.
To search your belongings, the agent must have probable cause or permission from the owner; you can and should decline to give them permission to search your person or property. Be aware that they may do so anyway if they have reasonable cause to believe you violated U.S. law.
A person’s ethnicity, race, skin color, native language, or accent cannot be used as criteria to meet probable cause standards.
How a Texas Immigration Attorney Can Help
If you were interrogated, searched, detained, or arrested by a Border Patrol agent, it’s important that you take action right away to protect your rights. An experienced Houston immigration lawyer can help you understand the legal process of interacting with Border Patrol and assist you with taking the next step. Contact the Zavala Law Firm, PLLC today by calling (713) 766-6720.