Peaceful protest at I-19 checkpoint

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Business owners in Tubac carried out a passive protest on Friday to demonstrate their growing frustration over the U.S. Border Patrol’s Interstate 19 checkpoint.

About a dozen people gathered near a Tubac restaurant, taped signs that read “Secure the Border at the Border” to their cars, and drove en masse through the checkpoint during congested evening traffic. Then they turned around and did it again.

“I guess you could call it civil disobedience, though no one here is breaking the law,” said Tubac business owner Gary Hembree, who organized the protest and was first in line.

Before the protest, Hembree said he planned to drive the speed limit and answer any questions the Border Patrol might have.

“Nobody here is against the Border Patrol, but we’re against what the government is trying to do in this community,” said Tubac resident Kelly Jones, who was part of the nine-car caravan through the checkpoint. Hembree had hoped for up to 100 cars.

Jones says the checkpoint is driving smugglers off the interstate and into the community, and has lead to “paramilitary operations happening our own backyard.”

Tubac business owner Lee Blackwell said the checkpoint is hurting local businesses by creating a false impression that the community is more violent than it is.

The temporary checkpoint at the northbound Agua Linda Road exit has sparked debate since it was placed there in 2007, but the controversy was stepped up with the announcement earlier this month that expansion could begin in a few months. Realtors have said the checkpoint is costing millions of dollars in sales, but some tourists earlier this month said they aren’t bothered by it.

The interim checkpoint expansion will go less than a mile south of Agua Linda Road on I-19, in the same spot where a permanent checkpoint — the Border Patrol’s ultimate goal — would go.

A permanent checkpoint would cost $27 million and would consist of 10 buildings on 25 acres.

“That would lead to huge expenditures of money, and a creeping loss of liberty,” Blackwell said.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726