Driver's License Checkpoints..for or Against?

Recently, there have been discussions in Houston related to the general populations feel for implementing driver's license checkpoints. The local am radio, as well as print media, appear to have folks from both sides of the story offering excellent reasons to support their thumbs up or thumbs down for the idea.

Let me tell you one of the reasons that I believe this may be a slippery slope. Assume that as a US citizen, you willfully decide to give up this right and offer yourselves up to these newly established checkpoints. First, lets say hypothetically, that there is a car stopped randomly. These stops on average result in increased revenue by allowing for more citations to be written against expired inspections, no proof of insurance, or a license that has not been renewed to reflect a change of address. Second, to increase the benefit of what is highlighted above, we begin to stop every car. Finally, every car is stopped at this checkpoint, and rather than license production, the stop is a full car search.

Another purported benefit is that the checkpoints would help to curtail illegal immigration. While I am no expert on the matter, there are many laws already on the books that would allow for illegal immigration to be curtailed and/or monitored. The addition of checkpoints would only be another process that probably fails to be value add in dealing with immigration.

For example, the Houston Chronicle today has a story http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6115223.html that is an investigative report on how federal immigration officials have allegedly allowed many criminals back on the streets after they disclosed there citizenship, or lack there of. This article is a troubling read and applicable to the discussion here. Most of the folks that I have heard being for the license checkpoints are previous victims of some type of event caused by individuals here illegally. For example, hit by drunk driver, robbery, random acts of violence, and others. I am not sure if additional checkpoints would do anything more, than establish another process to gather information that may not be acted upon.

For my children's sake, I hope that as they grow up, they will be as proud of America as I am, and be surrounded by citizens that share in this pride, regardless as to where the citizens previously came from. I just believe that illegal immigration taxes our already weakening infrastructure systems that we probably need a renewed focus going forward. It is hard for me to believe that it is too hard to police at the border. When I read stories of how technologically successful our armed forces are at attacking from so many miles away, or that special forces were able to track an individual over crazy terrains to ultimately detain them in some remote hiding holes; I struggle to understand how we can't stop a family of five from crossing the border without papers.