SPAZ bus raided: one jailed and one deported

Driving home from a New Years festival in Slab City, a bus-load of party-goers was stopped at an internal U.S. border patrol checkpoint within California. After refusing to have their bus searched, the border patrol got a drug dog and – claiming probable cause – proceeded to search the bus and every person on board.

The border patrol grabbed ID's from the pockets of the passengers and checked each person within their system. After discovering that one woman had an expired visa from France, the patrol detained her and indicated that they would initiate a deportation process. Additionally, they arrested one passenger for drug possession.

"We were never within 50 miles of the border," one of the passenger explained. "[The border patrol] based their probable cause on a dog that as far as I could tell, didn't even flinch as it circled our bus."

One passenger is being held in El Centro, CA. The other is being detained at an unknown location.