(Originally published in WND.)
If you are an illegal migrant coming into the United States, you are virtually welcomed. In some case, Customs and Border Patrol will simply tell you to be back at a certain time for a hearing and then let you go. They may even put you up in a nice hotel.
However, if you are a United States citizen returning home from Mexico by car, and you happen to get into the wrong lane, you will be handcuffed, held for hours and have to pay a $5,000 fine or risk having your vehicle impounded.
Isn’t it nice to know that federal government serves its citizens?
The reason Americans are running afoul of the CBP at the California-Mexico border is that they accidentally got into “Sentri Lane,” which allows pre-approved travelers to cross the border quicker. However, once you get into the lane, even if you quickly realize your error, you can’t cross back into the proper lanes because the Sentri Lane is separated from other lanes of traffic by concrete barriers.
And once you reach the border, explanations won’t help. One Burbank, California, resident told KTTV-TV, “They shackled me to this metal bench as I waited for three hours.”
Some Americans find their way into the lane because of poor signage. Others are directed into the lane by navigational apps.
“They basically shackle you to a bench for two, three hours,” Attorney John Manley told KTTV. He has represented drivers who have been fined for being in the Sentri Lane. “They say, ‘Yep, we’re gonna take your car,’ or, ‘we’re gonna fine you $5,000,’ for what amounts to being in the wrong lane of traffic.”
What’s more, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. One person who was handcuffed and waiting in the CBP office because she was in the wrong lane sat next to someone who had been caught trying to bring meth into the country. That person was released with a $500 citation.
So CBP believes driving in the wrong lane is 10 times worse than smuggling illegal drugs into the country. No wonder the U.S. border protection is so messed up. The agents are focusing on legal citizens who are committing what would be nothing more than a misdemeanor elsewhere while aiding illegal immigrants to commit felonies violating immigration and other laws.
When asked, the CBP said it didn’t apply the $5,000 fine until the third time someone tries to use the Sentri Lane. Many of the people KTTV spoke with said they never received a warning to know that they had broken a law, let alone that it was their third time. Even if it is the person’s third strike, the fine seems excessive.
Certainly, if an unauthorized person uses the Sentri Lane, he or she should be fined. Perhaps, the penalty should be what a very fast speeding ticket would be in Los Angeles, since essentially the Sentri Lane allows a person to speed past the stop-and-go traffic attempting to pass through the border. Another option would be to leave the people in the vehicle sitting in the office for a couple hours and releasing them a little later than it would have taken them to go through the border checkpoint had they remained in the proper lane. Either of these are more justifiable than what is currently being done at the border.
