Packard Asks INS to Justify Pair of North County Checkpoints

Rep. Ron Packard on Tuesday requested that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service justify its two North County border checkpoints as criticism grows that the barriers worsen the area’s illegal alien problems.

Although the Carlsbad Republican supports the checkpoints, he asked INS Commissioner Gene McNary by letter to “provide for me the justification . . . for establishing border checkpoints 70 miles from the California-Mexico border.”

Packard’s letter results from burgeoning political opposition to a $33-million, 16-lane checkpoint proposed for Interstate 5 at Camp Pendleton to replace the one farther north near San Clemente. Another checkpoint is located on Interstate 15, south of Temecula.

Packard told McNary that some officials in his district “believe that these facilities restrict immigration out of the county without reducing immigration into the county.”

Packard met last week for two hours with Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis, who told him the existing checkpoints are trapping migrants in North County.

Lewis believes Congress should remove the checkpoint and put greater effort into stopping the influx at the border. With a new checkpoint in North County, Lewis said, “what they’re doing is just extending the border from Tijuana to Camp Pendleton.”

“If Ron doesn’t support us, he’s going to have a tremendous amount of the population dissatisfied with him,” Lewis said, adding that the congressman “wasn’t aware of our position” until the meeting.

The mayor said the presence of an estimated 500 to 3,000 migrants camping in Carlsbad and seeking jobs is disapproved of by the community.

“I’m worried about the racial aspects,” he said, mentioning an incident this year in which a worker at a rural store tied up a migrant worker with duct tape and fastened a paper bag over his head. The worker was convicted Monday of misdemeanor false imprisonment.

In addition to Lewis, county Supervisor John MacDonald, whose 5th District includes most of North County, has expressed serious concerns about the checkpoint.

Lewis was pleased by Packard’s request to the INS and said he hopes the congressman will change his mind on the checkpoints. “He can’t ride the middle of the road on this thing,” he said.

The mayor is planning a summit of North County’s mayors and city managers to discuss the checkpoint issue.

The checkpoint at I-5 and Camp Pendleton will be built in 1992 if Congress approves funding in this year’s proposed federal budget. It would replace the facility near San Clemente, where city officials have long complained about auto chases through their community.

Packard and Border Patrol officials maintain that North County checkpoints are a crucial second line of defense to blocking aliens from reaching Orange County, Los Angeles and other destinations.

They also say the checkpoints are needed to confiscate illegal drugs coming into the country.

Packard spokesman David Goggin said that despite the letter, Packard “hasn’t really changed his position, but he’s saying here’s a question nobody’s raised in 20 years” about whether the checkpoints are effective.