Arizona border checks blocked

U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints near the Mexican border are essential in stopping the flow of illegal aliens and drugs into America, say law-enforcement authorities, but permanent checkpoints in southern Arizona are not allowed.While Border Patrol agents in Arizona accounted for more than half of the 1.15 million illegals caught last year, Congress -- led by Rep. Jim Kolbe, Arizona Republican -- steadfastly has approved appropriation bills that prohibit permanent checkpoints along a 260-mile section of the Arizona border known as the Tucson sector.