The three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation say they are concerned by U.S. Border Patrol plans to set up immigration checkpoints in the interior of the state, far from the Canadian border.
In a Tuesday statement, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, and Independent Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Peter Welch, also a Democrat, say they don't think checkpoints would make Vermont or the United States any safer. Rather, they say the checkpoints would cause needless delays for travelers and hinder commerce between Vermont and Canada.
Federal law allows the Border Patrol to set up checkpoints within 100 miles of the international border.
The Vermont Border Patrol headquarters, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment, occasionally sets up such checkpoints in New Hampshire and New York.
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