In a recent column, I documented the hostility that some area residents have shown toward the influx of New York City and northern New Jersey residents who have flocked to parts of eastern Carbon, Monroe and other Pocono communities to hunker down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Six area legislators got into the act by encouraging Gov. Tom Wolf to shut down the short-term rental business, which he did several weeks ago. Their concern is that the influx of visitors will not only infect residents but also overwhelm existing medical facilities.

This is not an isolated case. Residents in resort communities all over the country are rising up in anger because of these “invasions” by out-of-staters, with some states setting up border checkpoints to stop nonresidents who might be infected with the virus.

A sign in Rhode Island, for example, was put up in March that said ‘Those with New York license plates must pull over.” New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said this restriction was unconstitutional because it singled out his state. This prompted Gov. Gina Raimondo to broaden the restriction to all out-of-state noncommercial motorists.

True, most concerns originally involved New York state residents, which has by far the most novel coronavirus cases in the country, but it quickly expanded to New Jersey and Delaware shore towns, where many of our area residents vacation annually; some even have second homes there.

Beyond that, Florida and Texas joined Rhode Island in setting up border checkpoints, and this raises the specter of serious constitutional questions.

In Florida and Texas, for example, state troopers are requiring passengers to sign forms promising to self-isolate for 14 days after entering the states. They are told they can get a follow-up phone call or unannounced visit to determine compliance.

In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, another popular vacation destination, police ask to see identification. Those who are not residents are turned away.

Delaware State Police recently set up checkpoints leading to Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach to enforce an emergency order by the governor to stop noncommercial vehicles with out-of-state license plates.

Many Pennsylvania residents in border communities are flocking to liquor stores in nearby states because state stores here are closed, even though limited purchases are allowed online.

Pennsylvanians also are traveling to Maryland and Virginia beach locations. Although both states have stay-at-home orders, neither uses checkpoints.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, usually a cheerleader for his popular beach community of 7,100, which welcomes up to 8 million visitors annually, is blunt in his warning to Pennsylvanians and others who come from as far away as Canada: Stay home.

In the Florida Keys, which some contend has become a gated community because of checkpoints, more than 4,000 cars have been denied entry on the only two routes into the Keys since late March.

Legal experts are debating the constitutional questions arising from these restrictions. While acknowledging that government and police have wide-ranging powers during a public health emergency such as this, legal scholars said it can conflict with the constitutional guarantee of free travel from state to state.

Typically, checkpoints are used to crack down on drunken-driving or to encourage seat-belt use, even to try to apprehend an escaped prisoner, but these types of checkpoint are unprecedented.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has so far resisted calls to set up similar checkpoints to discourage New York City area residents from flocking here.

He has, however, authorized the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to set up signs at border crossings such as the Delaware Water Gap and Easton-Phillipsburg advising out-of-state motorists to self-quarantine for 14 days.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com