Back in the late 90s, the federal government won a case in the Flores case, then promptly snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory by signing on to the Flores Settlement. In a case of sue and settle, the government lawyers collaborated with the plaintiffs in the case to make detention of illegal alien minors as cushy as possible, even better than for American juveniles. The ripple effect of this settlement eventually allowed Judge Dolly Gee to make a ruling that opened the border to anyone travelling with their minor “child”, defined as anyone age 17 and under.
It didn’t have to be this way. If the treacherous government lawyers had not agreed to this silliness, we would likely have never had such a massive influx of illegals during the Trump’s first presidency.
I can remember interviewing for the job of Border Patrol Agent. In Baltimore at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) offices around 1999. There I was in a suit and tie being bombarded with seemingly impossible scenarios by three Border Patrol Agents in dress uniform. Every answer I gave seemed to be wrong and followed by more questions designed to trip me up. Back then, one of the standard questions was that you are following a pickup truck loaded with what looked like illegal alien passengers. As you drive up behind the pickup, you see a house on fire with a man running from the house with what appears to be a gas can. What do you do? The answer is to save lives first, so, you go to the burning house. I’m told that a lot of military veterans have a hard time with that scenario because they are taught not to let anything interfere with the mission. They also ask a question designed to see if you will shoot to kill in a deadly force situation. Saying you will in front of three interviewers is much different than finding yourself in a real world situation that requires quick action.
After kicking me out of the interview room to do their evaluation, I waited in the lobby wondering if I had passed. I sat there and sweated it out until they summoned me back in to let me know I had indeed passed, and what the next steps were. I was out of school and needed health insurance and dinero. When I came back into the room, the atmosphere was much more relaxed for all of us. One of the Agents who had been interviewing me told me the three of them were from the Canadian border (I can no longer remember exactly where, but I thought he said Swanton), and he said that the last time he had been down in the Washington, D.C. area it was to raid a restaurant called Blackie’s. According to this Agent, they were raiding the steak house and the lunch crowd had around four Senators in it to include Ted Kennedy. The Senators were upset that their lunch was taking so long and they asked the waiter what the matter was, “Oh, the Border Patrol was in here and they raided our kitchen taking away most of our staff.” According to this Agent, after that, the rule that the Border Patrol had to stay within 100 miles of the border was implemented by Kennedy.
I have no idea if the Agent’s story about Ted Kennedy and the Senators was valid since the patrons were not identified, but it does seem plausible. It could just be one of those rumors or speculations that go around any law enforcement agency.
“On November 17, 1978, INS agents conducted a search of the public area, kitchen, and second-floor offices of Blackie’s beginning at 11:12 A.M. and continuing for 23 minutes. During the 23-minute search, the INS removed 14 suspected illegal aliens from Blackie’s, who were detained for an additional 10 minutes in an alley behind the restaurant while transportation to the local INS office was being arranged. The required warrant return was made on November 20, 1978, reciting the names and country of origin of 14 illegal aliens found on the premises. Ten patrons were observed in the restaurant during the search, and four more came in during the course of it.” For more on the case, see here.
Often, when obtaining an arrest warrant, the authorities have the name and personal info on the suspect. For example, Joe THUG, date of birth April 1st, 2000, wanted for armed robbery. However, in the case of Blackie’s House of Beef, the INS Special Agents had previously arrested an illegal alien who said that he had been working at Blackie’s. When asked, the illegal alien said that there were other illegal aliens there, but he didn’t know their last names, let alone their dates of birth. Nevertheless, the INS was able to obtain a warrant, now termed a “Blackie Warrant” and search the premises where (sure enough) they found more illegal aliens. By the way, this was the second time that the INS had raided Blackie’s. One way or another, the illegal aliens who were picked up were going to be deported. However, by protesting the warrant and seeking to prevent the INS from doing it again, Blackie’s House of Beef was signaling that they intended to hire more illegal aliens in the future, and they didn’t want to get raided a third time!
Blackie’s House of Beef was raided by the INS back on March 30, 1978 during dinner, and then again on November 17th, 1978 beginning at 11:12 A.M. Back then, the Border Patrol was part of INS so it is plausible that the I.N.S. Special Agents requested backup from the Border Patrol.
There was a battle in the courts over the “Blackie’s Warrants”. Here’s a brief summary:
Right now, open borders groups like the A.C.L.U. are offering guidance to illegal aliens on how to keep from being arrested. See here and here.
There are reports of people defying ICE Special Agents requests to search the premises of houses.
Of course, there are also entire sanctuary cities and states. The Center for Immigration Studies has advanced the possibility of using “Blackie’s Warrants” to go after the sanctuary cities. I don’t pretend to be a lawyer, but the article claims that if an identified illegal alien is being held at a local facility and if the jurisdiction holding the illegal alien refuses to honor an I.C.E. detainer request, then I.C.E. can issue a Blackie’s Warrant to go in and take the alien. If at that point jail officials still refuse to cooperate, this might make the jail officials subject to arrest. I’m sure if that happens there will be a massive amount of lawsuits being flung about.
Even though the right of the federal government to issue a Blackie’ Warrant was affirmed in the end, to my knowledge, Blackie’s Warrants quickly became a thing of the past. I’ve never heard of one being applied for during my whole career.
If Blackie’s warrants are used again, I foresee more litigation. Going back to the Justia law article, it says “There are no sanctions of any kind, criminal or otherwise, imposed by law upon a knowing employer of illegal aliens.” This was written before the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Now, there are penalties on employers. Will this mean Blackie’s warrants will need to be re-litigated? (Approximately the 31st paragraph).
Incidentally, I remember reading a story about one of the older “dinosaurs”, the gray haired Agents near retirement. When he had come into the Border Patrol, using Mexican ethnicity for probable cause was permitted. So, the dinosaur Agent would pull over vehicles full of Mexican looking individuals and sack them up. The first thing a defense attorney always challenges is the 4th Amendment, was your vehicle stop justified with enough probable cause of believing a crime was committed? The Agent’s narratives in his I-213 form always read something like, “Saw four men Mexican in appearance driving on Military Highway 10 miles from the border. When I pulled alongside their vehicle, the driver refused to make eye contact.” Things had changed and by the end of his career, this dinosaur’s cases were all getting thrown out of court on 4th Amendment grounds. Who’s to say what a Mexican or an American looks like? HOWEVER, the illegal aliens he was pulling over were still getting sent back to Mexico. They may not have been charged with alien smuggling or other criminal charges because of the violation of their 4th Amendment rights, but that didn’t confer on the aliens legal status. They were still illegally present in the U.S. and they still got sent back (usually a Voluntary Return). So, the old Agent kept on doing things his way even while his alien smuggling cases were getting thrown out of court.
I hope to see a return of the use of Blackie’s warrants, and I hope the courts side with immigration enforcement. Ideally, I’d like to see those hiding the illegal aliens getting sacked up too.
20 year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol. Author of "What Bridge Do You Work At? Or, Kids Are Cute; Therefore, Open Borders" & "East into the Sunset: Memories of patrolling in the Rio Grande Valley at the turn of the century". Books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, as well as Thrift Books.
Master's Degree in Justice, Law and Society from American University.
Grew up partly in Europe.
