The 96-year-old former governor was detained at the border checkpoint

The 96-year-old former governor was detained at the border checkpoint (Alberta Times) The 96-year-old former Arizona Governor Raul Castro on June 12…

(Alberta Times)

The 96-year-old former Arizona Governor Raul Castro Castro was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border checkpoint in Nogalas on June 12 for more than half an hour in a temperature of nearly 100 degrees because the heart rate regulator installed in his body triggered a radiation sensor. Customs and Border Protection has apologized and argued that Castro was only detained for ten minutes. Castro, who has served as the U.S. ambassador to many countries, said in an interview on the 5th that he understands that the agents have their responsibilities. He has not been abused and does not hold a grudge. However, once his identity and age are confirmed and he explains that he received medical treatment the day before, the agents should be more sensitive to his age and physical condition. Castro has served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Bolivia and Argentina since 1964, and as governor of Arizona from 1975 to 1977. On June 12, he was driven from Nogales, where he lived, to Tucson to attend a luncheon celebrating his 96th birthday, driven by Duane, the daughter of Duane, the former mayor of the border town of Nogalas and now a professor at the University of Arizona. Their car was stopped at an Interstate 19 checkpoint 24 miles north of the border because it triggered a radiation sensor that Castro believed was triggered by the pacemaker he had installed the day before. Duane said that the agent asked Castro to go to a tent area for a second inspection. The temperature at the time was nearly 100 degrees and Castro was wearing a suit. Duane asked that Castro sit in an air-conditioned car, but the agent refused and said that there was an electric fan in the tent. Duane said that the agents asked Castro a series of questions, took out a document and asked him to sign it, and then used a reconnaissance device to scan his whole body again before letting them leave. When they walked back to the car under the scorching sun, the agents asked Castro to see his ID card. By this time, he was very uncomfortable due to the heat and dropped the ID card on the ground, but insisted on picking it up himself. In total, they were detained for more than 30 minutes. "I felt like they continued to humiliate him," Duane said. "I was the driver. They never asked for my name or asked for my ID. If there was a nuclear threat in this car, why didn't they question me?" Customs and Border Protection issued a statement regretting the inconvenience caused by the delay.