Texas DPS aims for statewide driver's license checkpoints 11:09 AM CST on Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Associated Press
AUSTIN — The state's top law enforcement agency has asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for a ruling on the legality of setting up statewide driver's license checkpoints but 15 lawmakers say such a move would be unauthorized immigration policymaking.
A number of state legislators argue the Department of Public Safety Commission overstepped its authority Aug. 25 by issuing new rules requiring applicants to prove they are legally in the U.S. before they can receive a Texas driver's license or identification. Two weeks later, lawmakers were further disturbed after learning the commission's chairman, Allan B. Polunsky, wanted a ruling on the checkpoints.
"A state agency is making immigration policy for the state of Texas, and that is not their job," State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio said in a story Tuesday for the Houston Chronicle's online edition.
Polunsky did not return the newspaper's calls for comment.
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio and 14 other Texas lawmakers sent Abbott a letter asking him to ignore the commission's legal opinion request because the Legislature has not authorized a DPS checkpoint program.
It's unclear when Abbott will issue his opinion.
Staffed by state troopers or local police, the checkpoints would stop drivers to review their licenses, vehicle registrations and proof of insurance.
Checkpoints have not been allowed in Texas since the state Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in 1994 they must be authorized by a "politically accountable governing body at the state level." That case involved a sobriety checkpoint in Arlington. In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that random traffic stops to check driver's licenses, where officers did not have reasonable suspicion, were unconstitutional.
However, the ruling does not prevent state "spot checks that involve less intrusion or that do not involve the unconstrained exercise of discretion," the justices wrote. "Questioning of all oncoming traffic at roadblock-type stops is one possible alternative."
Some say the proposed driver's license checkpoints and the new driver's license rule requiring proof of legal U.S. residency could be problematic.
"Our number one concern is the potential for profiling since it puts the immigration identifier on the license," said Luis Figueroa, legislative staff attorney with the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "It leads to potential profiling, whether it's a police officer who is going to scrutinize someone closer, or a landlord who may not want to rent out a property."
Gov. Rick Perry favors the checkpoints, said spokeswoman Allison Castle.
"Police officers and law enforcement believe this is an important technique in protecting the public, and to that end, the governor supports providing our law enforcement officers with the tools they need to ensure public safety," Castle said.