Opinion ID: 754070
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Valid Public Interest Underlying the Reasonable Suspicion Standard

Text: 12 In Brignoni-Ponce, the Supreme Court noted the important public interest in effective prevention of the illegal entry of aliens at the Mexican border: 13 Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States vary widely.... Whatever the number, these aliens create significant economic and social problems, competing with citizens and legal resident aliens for jobs, and generating extra demand for social services. The aliens themselves are vulnerable to exploitation because they cannot complain of substandard working conditions without risking deportation. 14 422 U.S. at 878, 95 S.Ct. at 2579. These concerns are no less pressing today. The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that in October 1996, there were about 5 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States. INS Statistics: Illegal Alien Resident Population (last modified Nov. 25, 1997) (summarized in William Branigin, Illegal Immigrant Population Grows to 5 Million, WASH. POST , Feb. 8, 1997, at A3). The undocumented immigrant population grew by an estimated 275,000 annually from 1992-96. Id. Since 1988, the number of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States has grown an estimated 150,000 annually. Id. Of the 5 million estimated undocumented immigrants in the United States in October 1996, an estimated 2.7 million, or 54 percent, came from Mexico. Id. About 60 percent of the total population of undocumented immigrants entered the United States surreptitiously across land borders, either between official ports of entry, or assisted by professional alien smugglers. Id. A very large majority of these EWI's (entry without inspection) came from Mexico. Id. 15 Of course, these alarming statistics say nothing of the Border Patrol's other important role in protecting the public interest: preventing the smuggling of illegal narcotics across our borders. At the end of 1997, official estimates held that between 5 and 7 tons of illegal drugs are smuggled across our borders every day. See 143 CONG. REC . E2272-01 (daily ed. Nov. 9, 1997) (statement of Hon. James A Traficant, Jr.); see also Border Patrol Will Extend Its Rio Grande Operations, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, Apr. 4, 1998 (noting that Border Patrol seized 37,652 pounds of marijuana in March 1998, compared with 9,383 pounds seized in March 1997). In fiscal year 1996, the United States Customs Service discovered and seized 2,895 pounds of heroin, 180,946 pounds of cocaine, and 775,225 pounds of marijuana. U.S. Customs Strategic Plan, (last visited Apr. 24, 1998) ; Commissioner of the Customs Service: Oversight Hearing with the Customs Service Before the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, 1997 WL 10571632 (May 15, 1997) (statement of Customs Commissioner George Weise) (In FY 1996, Customs seized or participated in the seizure of a record 1,000,000 pounds of drugs.). According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the amount of marijuana seized annually rose from approximately 400,000 pounds in 1990 to approximately 1,000,000 pounds in 1995. Marijuana--U.S. Seizures, (last visited Apr. 24, 1998) . The Customs Service estimates that the majority of narcotics entering the United States is being smuggled in along the nation's southern tier. U.S. Customs Strategic Plan (last visited Apr. 24, 1998) .>>> 16 In establishing the reasonable suspicion standard for roving Border Patrol investigatory stops, the Supreme Court weighed these public interests against the modest interference with individual liberty that results when an officer stops an automobile and questions its occupants, Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. at 878-80, 95 S.Ct. at 2578-80; however, we recognize that this balancing test is not itself a factor in the individual application of the reasonable suspicion standard to particular cases. Nevertheless, a restatement of the public interests in this regard is useful in that it reminds us to avoid the temptation to be overzealous in our application of this standard in favor of the private, rather than public, interests at stake. See id. at 881, 95 S.Ct. at 2580 ([B]ecause of the importance of the governmental interest at stake, the minimal intrusion of a brief stop, and the absence of practical alternatives for policing the border, we hold that when an officer's observations lead him reasonably to suspect that a particular vehicle may contain aliens who are illegally in the country, he may stop the car briefly and investigate the circumstances that provoke suspicion.). In addition, the current reality of alien and drug smuggling is relevant to the reasonable suspicion analysis because it forms the backdrop against which Border Patrol agents must evaluate the facts and circumstances of each case. 17 Without question, the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures preserves one of our most cherished rights. In 1975, in Brignoni-Ponce, the Supreme Court delineated the scope of that right with regard to investigatory stops by roving Border Patrol agents. See id. at 880-86, 95 S.Ct. at 2579-83. We are, of course, bound by Supreme Court precedent on the matter, but our reassessment, in light of current events, of the competing interests at stake in the determination of reasonable suspicion bolsters the continued vitality of the Supreme Court's mandate in Brignoni-Ponce. 18