A case now before the courts in Texas may set a precedent in alleged racial profiling cases brought against the Border Patrol.
If it succeeds, it would open a pathway for people judged by the courts to have been unlawfully seized in roving patrols to sue an individual agent, not simply the Border Patrol as an institution.
Roving patrols are separate from immigration checkpoints placed within 100 miles of the border with Mexico.
With respect to internal immigration checkpoints, Border Patrol agents have the right to question drivers and passengers. That’s based on a case known as U.S. vs Martinez-Fuerte that was adjudicated in 1976.
Martinez-Fuerte was decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that said checkpoints set up on public roads or highways leading to or away from the border with Mexico are not a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, one designed to protect people against arbitrary search and seizure.