Commentary: The long, deep reach of the US Border Patrol
Most people think of the border as a distant line tracing the outside edge of the United States. That is not how the U.S. government sees it. The border is officially defined as a zone that extends 100 miles into the interior of the United States from all external boundaries.
In that huge area — it encompasses 10 states, such cities as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, and almost two-thirds of the nation’s population — the Border Patrol has expansive, nearly unchecked powers.
A recent Supreme Court decision, Egbert v. Boule, underlined those powers. A Border Patrol agent approached a Turkish guest at an inn in Washington state. When the inn’s owner, an American citizen, asked
