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Comment by majorchord | Hacker News Reader

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majorchord·

I thought this was already allowed and the norm for many years?

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You are right. What most people don’t understand however is that “the border” extends for 100 miles

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/border-zone

This effectively means border patrol can do whatever they want in areas that do not involve a border crossing and involve citizens just living their normal lives

That concerns more than 220 million people in the USA, who can be arbitrarily stopped in the street and searched.

Be afraid...

...which is about 2/3rds the population of america.

Note also that that 100 miles _is a radius around your nearest international airport_ and need not be what you think of as a border, i.e. a line drawn between two land masses.

This is not correct, it’s a common but false misunderstanding. The text of the law does not support this and the ACLU/EFF don’t see it as a likely problem.

People should stop repeating this claim or it will become one of those “folk truths” that eventually becomes accepted and real.

You are correct; I was wrong on this one! I’d read it so many times and far enough back, coupled with DHS’s general attitude of “we’ll do what we want”, that I’d taken it as true. Delighted not to be right here.

Of course, as it is, the 100 mile zone is already absurd enough!

Please cite a reputable source for this claim. Preferably a SCOTUS ruling.

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