United States v. Bisram Sugrim

CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:

On this appeal we review the constitutionality of a brief detention of a suspected illegal alien. These detentions are, the government contends, necessary to stem the flood of illegal aliens into the United States. More than a million such persons were apprehended trying to enter this country in the year that ended September 30, 1983, 40 percent more than in the previous year. The Border Patrol, an arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, has no idea how many managed to elude the presently less than 2500 active border patrol agents. Some believe only a small…