A Reader Near Canada Reminds Us That The Bill Of Rights Has Always Stopped At The Border
10/10/2016
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From: "Jacobite"  [Email him]

I've noticed, most recently while reading your analysis of the Vice Presidential debate, that many people seem to think that preventing Muslims from entering the country is some sort of constitutional violation.

Having grown up on the Canadian border I was made aware at a very young age that we have NO rights at the border.  The Customs Service can and will search our bodies, possessions, and vehicles  without warrant, suspicion,  or even a reason given.

More than one wayward high school senior has had his vehicle literally taken apart by customs officers searching for contraband. Our mail, normally sacrosanct, is opened with impunity if it originated in a foreign land.

Yet we are to believe that somehow the First Amendment applies where the Fourth clearly doesn't? Will advocates of Muslim immigration demand that customs get warrants for every search? This will become unmanageable the first day. And woe unto the hapless sailor that thinks the Coast Guard needs anything more than a whim to search any craft on navigable waters. This has been settled law for decades or centuries, and is unlikely to change.

Thank you for everything you do. You give us hope.

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