By Gabe Ortiz • Aug 25, 2017

The United States Border Patrol said it is not planning to close its roadside immigration checkpoints north of the Rio Grande Valley unless there is a danger to travelers or its agents.

“Border Patrol checkpoints will not be closed unless there is a danger to the safety of the traveling public and our agents. Border Patrol resources, including personnel and transportation, will be deployed on an as needed basis to augment the efforts and capabilities of local-response authorities,” the agency said in a statement.

“We’re not going to impede anybody getting out of here, but at the same time we’re a law enforcement agency, so we still have to conduct our duties,” said CBP official Roberto Rodriguez.

But as reporter Julia Wick tweeted Thursday night, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP “temporarily suspended enforcement measures during evacuations” in the midst of Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Isaac in 2012. What CBP is doing today is directly impeding public safety and threatening lives by making immigrants so fearful of being asked for papers in the midst of a natural disaster, that they refuse to flee their homes. This is Trumpism at its worst, and deadliest.

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