The 2015 Amado checkpoint protest took place on May 27, 2015, when approximately seventy-five protesters held a demonstration at the

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...

checkpoint along Arivaca Road in

Amado, Arizona Amado is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 295 at the 2010 census. Geography Amado is located at (31.704900, -111.065492). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP ha ...

, about 35 miles south of

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Established in 2007, the checkpoint is the smallest of the eleven Border Patrol checkpoints near the U.S.–Mexico border in southern Arizona, with only four or five agents manning the post at a time. It is located in a rural area outside the town of Amado, on the main road to

Arivaca Arivaca ( O'odham: Ali Wa:pk) is an unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States.Arivac ...

, a small community near the international border. The demonstrators cited privacy concerns, the nuisance of having to go through the checkpoint, and the potential for

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...

as reasons for the protest, and want it removed. Smaller demonstrations also occurred at other checkpoints in the area, the nearest located a few miles south of Amado, in Agua Linda, along

Interstate 19 Interstate 19 (I-19) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Arizona. I-19 travels from Nogales, roughly from the Mexican border, to Tucson, at I-10. The highway also travels through the cities of ...

, but the Amado protest was the largest. In anticipation of the protest, 50 Border Patrol agents manned the checkpoint to help keep order. Government authorities say the checkpoints are "vital to catching immigration violations, drug smugglers and human traffickers," but some local residents are unhappy about having to answer the Border Patrol agents' questions every time they pass through. Border Patrol official Manny Padilla, who manages the Tucson Sector of the international border, commented on the Amado protest; explaining that stopping people inside the United States is a "crucial component" of the strategy to stop illegal drug and human smugglers, who operate on both sides of the border. Padilla also said: "It's very difficult to stop all traffic at the immediate border." A sign in support of the checkpoint was posted a few hundred feet from where the demonstration was held, reading "Citizens of Arivaca, Moyza, Amado, & Sasabe Support Our BP Checkpoint".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amado checkpoint protest, 2015 Protests in the United States 2015 in Arizona Mexico–United States border Illegal immigration Battles of the Mexican drug war 2015 protests

See also

References