The action was sparked by the federal agency’s placement of checkpoints on state roads beginning November 12. The first checkpoints were erected on secondary roads in Port Huron and Trenton, to the north and south of this city. Stopping all traffic, the Border Patrol agents demanded proof of citizenship from travelers they deemed "suspicious." The primary target was "illegal aliens" who allegedly cross the border from Canada, explained an official.

Many drivers passing by honked their support for the protest or signaled their agreement with a thumbs-up sign. A couple of drivers expressed opposition, shouting racist epithets.

Latino workers who participated led the chanting, calling for equal rights and an end to the racist and discriminatory practices of both the Border Patrol and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. They shouted in Spanish, "Somos iguales, no somos animales (We are equal, we are not animals.)"

Workers at a meatpacking plant in the area helped build the action. Days earlier, they had formed several teams and fanned out in the district posting up and handing out flyers. One team went to an Arabic neighborhood and met a worker from the Middle East who translated the flyer into Arabic.

The workers funded the flyer distribution through an in-plant collection.  
 
Immigrants from Latin America
Detroit’s working-class southwest is home to many immigrants from Central and Latin America, a majority of whom are Mexican-born. The district borders on Dearborn, a suburb with a majority Arab population that has been targeted by federal, state, and local police agencies in the rulers’ so-called "war on terrorism."

The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee has issued statements protesting the checkpoints and the racial profiling applied in the traffic stops.

The publicity given the cop action helped to whet interest in the protest. Such checkpoints are routinely set up on the southern border with Mexico. But for the first time federal border patrol agents are using these methods on the northern U.S. border with Canada.

Federal law says that border patrol agents do not need "probable cause" or a traffic violation to stop and question drivers. Based on U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the border cops can stop and question individuals for any number of reasons, including behavior, race, and proximity to the border.

The law also allows for checkpoints to be set up as far as 100 miles from an international border or shoreline, thus encompassing most of the state of Michigan. "In other words," a December 9 Detroit Free Press article stated, "some constitutional rights of millions of Michiganders are weaker than those of U.S. citizens who live in the interior of the country."

The checkpoints to date have targeted southeast Michigan where there are larger concentrations of immigrants, particularly around the Detroit metropolitan area.

Supporters of Calero’s case in Detroit have set a goal of raising $1,000 to help cover the costs of the defense fight. In the first couple days of calling they raised more than $400.  
 
 
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