Get this: THe illegal alien “would not allow” a New York Times reporter to use his name…

New York Times

Sobriety Checkpoints Catch Unlicensed Drivers

Bernardino’s wife began to sob as soon as she saw the signs warning “sobriety checkpoint ahead.”

“They cannot do anything to us,” said Bernardino, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, as he pulled their 1997 Ford Explorer into a police checkpoint in San Pablo

His wife knew better. They were sober, but Bernardino, who would not allow his last name to be used because of his illegal status, had no driver’s license, an offense that would cost them their car.

Sobriety checkpoints, like the one in San Pablo, have increasingly become profitable operations that are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed — and often illegal immigrant — motorists, than to catch drunken drivers.

An examination by the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that in 2009, impoundments at checkpoints generated an estimated $40 million in towing fees and police fines statewide. Cities like Oakland, San Jose, San Rafael, Hayward and Redwood City divide the revenue with towing companies.

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