Hourly Update

President Bush enters fray over Border Patrol checkpoints

The debate over whether permanent border checkpoints should be installed on Southern Arizona highways has been renewed by a recent statement issued by President Bush. Though such checkpoints are used in California, New Mexico and Texas, Border Patrol funding for its Tucson Sector requires they be temporary and moved to various highway locations. This year the checkpoints must be moved at least once every 14 days, up from every seven days last year. Bush, in an Oct. 18 statement, notified Congress that he considers restrictive legislative language to be nonbinding. "Decisions on deployment and redeployment of law enforcement officers in the execution of the laws are a part of the executive power vested in the President by Article II of the Constitution," the statement reads. "Accordingly, the executive branch shall construe the relocation provision as advisory rather than mandatory."