Pubdate: Fri, 26 Dec 2008
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Contact:  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408
Author: Paul Shukovsky, P-I Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Border+Patrol
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/ACLU

BORDER PATROL GROWS, AND SO DO CONCERNS

Jurisdiction Claims Mean Roadblocks Theoretically Could Be Set Up in Seattle

Shortly after riding a U.S. Border Patrol dune buggy in Arizona's 
high desert 2 1/2 years ago, President George W. Bush initiated a 
beefed-up border-security policy that some say has infringed on civil 
liberties -- and led to crackdowns around Port Angeles and Bellingham.

"We want our borders shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals 
and drug dealers and terrorists," declared Bush, who ordered the 
Border Patrol to hire 6,000 more agents by the end of this year.

In Blaine, at the U.S.-Canada border, the Border Patrol has nearly 
quadrupled in size -- from about 50 agents eight years ago to about 
190 today. It's using its wealth of manpower to throw up roadblocks 
on highways and search buses dozens of miles from the nearest border.

They're searching for terrorists, drug dealers and illegal 
immigrants, a mission the Border Patrol says it has the right to do 
within 100 miles of the border. In Western Washington, that means 
roadblocks could be set up at least as far south as Seattle.

Agents make daily checks on the Olympic Peninsula of an intercity bus 
line at its Discovery Bay stop, said Mike Bermudez, a supervisory 
agent and spokesman.

"The agents ask everyone on the bus what their citizenship is," he 
said. "No one on the bus but the driver can escape that question."

The owner of the bus line has no problem with the patrol boarding his buses.

"They're very good at what they do," said Olympic Bus Lines President 
Jack Heckman, who hasn't heard any complaints. "They come on the bus, 
announce who they are. It does not delay us at all."

The patrol had been questioning bus passengers sporadically for 
years, Heckman said, but now "it's at least a weekly occurrence."

It's unclear how effective the tactic is at stopping terrorists. The 
patrol refuses to release any information about such arrests or 
investigations, citing national security considerations.

Eight undocumented people have been arrested as a result of bus 
boardings on the Olympic Peninsula since fall 2007, Bermudez said. In 
Bellingham, 13 people have been arrested in bus and train boardings 
during the same period.

Roadblocks, which the patrol calls "tactical traffic checkpoints," 
have garnered more arrests.

Since the end of February, there have been 53 roadblocks set up at 
the Anacortes ferry terminal, state Route 20 near Newhalem and U.S. 
101 on the Olympic Peninsula. Agents have arrested 81 illegal 
immigrants and turned 19 people over to other agencies for state 
crimes. They did this by stopping 24,524 vehicles and checking 41,912 
people in those vehicles, records show.

The American Civil Liberties Union is planning to sue over the 
aggressive tactics.

"We think that this kind of enforcement activity is probably not 
constitutional," said Shankar Narayan, legislative director of the 
ACLU of Washington.

Stephen Dixon, a disabled veteran who uses medical marijuana, was 
cited for misdemeanor pot possession by patrol agents at a roadblock.

He might have made the perfect case for the ACLU, but U.S. Attorney 
Jeff Sullivan dismissed the marijuana charge last month and told the 
patrol not to bring him any more small-time drug cases.

Sullivan said his office focuses on prosecuting "sophisticated 
criminal organizations who smuggle million of dollars of drugs, guns 
and other contraband across our borders."

But John Bates, the Border Patrol's chief in the Northwest, didn't 
back away from what he sees as his agency's duty to enforce the law.

"These are immigration checkpoints," he said. "However, if we 
encounter other violations of law, we are not going to turn our back on them."

The Border Patrol, Bates said, will take such cases to local police 
to see if they want to file charges.

As for the checkpoints themselves, Bates points to U.S. Supreme Court 
rulings that he says uphold their constitutionality.

The ACLU disputes the notion that the patrol has a blank check to set 
up roadblocks or board buses without having a factual basis for doing 
so. Narayan says the roadblocks and transit checks are only legal if 
they are done within the context of specific information that 
supports the actions.

Both Bates and Bermudez emphasize that the checks are triggered by 
intelligence information, and are convinced that the action has a 
deterrent value against drug- and people-smuggling rings.

"The United States has the right to control who enters the country 
and enforce the integrity of its borders," Narayan said. "We are all 
for that. But not at the expense of running roughshod over the Constitution." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake