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Border Patrol Free Stop Border Patrol checkpoints, raids, surveillance, racial profiling, expansion plans & waste of tax dollars
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News and Updates
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2/13/12
Border Patrol Announcement This morning the Peninsula Daily News reported that the Border Patrol announced that they arrested 16 people in the Blain Sector last month - two of which were "Mexican nationals in the Forks area" arrested Jan. 21 after a "traffic-stop request for assistance from a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy and a Quinault Tribal Police Department officer." On the surface, at least, the new Chief, Cumbow, appears to be acting on good faith to "engage in community outreach". But we wonder how this admittedly incomplete report relates to reality. What happened to the two "Mexican nationals"? How many others were arrested but not reported? what's the relationship between the Border Patrol and the Sheriff and Tribal Police?
If you have any details or more information Reporting on the BP reporting will tend to make them more honest. They can't not report arrests that they know we know about.
2/18/12 - "Agents apprehended two citizens of Guatemala as a result of a vehicle stop near Forks." Why was the vehicle stopped by federal agents? As you know- mysterious traffic stops have been going on for months now. This is just the part I know from searching the web. - Alex
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Deportation - Shattered Families Jennifer Hemsley, an advocate for undocumented persons, asked that we post this powerful Nightline story about the children of the deported. She also sent along a comprehensive Deportation Manual by the AECF which we will keep linked from our resources page
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2/7/12 This Week in BP News on the Olympic Peninsula Paul Gottlieb in the Peninsula Daily News has beed doing a good job reporting on the Border Patrol on the Peninsula. First an article about the very significant job the Forks Human Rights Group has done "with cellphones and cameras" documenting the activities of Border Patrol agents. |
 Photo by Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News |
And then, today, an in depth article about the BP's new chief, Jay Cumbow. It's a pretty positive article reporting that Cumbow is "eager to engage in 'community outreach' ... to allay ... criticism". We hope so but, as they say, we are from Missouri. With 60 or 70 agents on the Peninsula (including allied federal agents under Homeland Security control) the feds overwhelm local police and sheriff departments. We have reported that the Border Patrol has not |
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cooperated with the Port Townsend police and sheriff departments. Rather they act more like an "occupying force" which engenders a "visceral" response", according to the sheriff. So we don't know if our local police and sheriff can really "partner" with the much larger and much better funded Border Patrol or if the relationship will be one of attempted bribery and cooptation. We do applaud Agent Cumbow's stated willingness to meet with the community.
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 BP "Assist" in Sequim |
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We would also hope that Agent Cumbow reverses the policy of secrecy that led to the Border Patrol squelching the Freedom Of Information Act request filed by the Peninsula Daily News. We will follow the issue, see if the Border Patrol becomes more transparent about their activities and arrests and see if the PDN re-files the FOIA request. Meanwhile we will support and promote the Forks Human Rights Group efforts to document what the Border Patrol is doing.
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1/29/12 New agent in charge of Port Angeles Border Patrol The Border Patrol’s Blaine Sector office last week announced that Jay Cumbow is the new head agent of the Port Angeles station, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties. Read more in the Peninsula Daily News.
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1/23/12 The Forks Human Rights group has developed an important analysis of recent Border Patrol activities in and around Forks. Read the letter and supporting documents and help support our neighbors in Forks. 1/22/12 "Immigration as a Moral Issue" A class on "Immigration as a Moral Issue" begins Tuesday, 1/24/12, at 4 pm at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Avenue, Port Townsend, WA. The class is the first in a series of six that will deal with:
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Kate at 360 385 3705 or katiegagefranco@gmail.com. See you next Tuesday.
********** 12/29/11 Jan.7th Mtg Stop The Checkpoints
Stop The Checkpoints January 7th Meeting We'll kick off the New Year with reports on recent Border Patrol activity on the Peninsula and beyond, and plan future actions to defend immigrant workers and families. Border Patrol over-the-top tactics in Forks are again making the news, and we have received similar reports from Whidbey Island immigration translators. It seems our local Border Patrol office is again trying to intimidate folks and divide our communities. (Please see the article below from the Seattle Weekly.) Bring your ideas for actions to support the Forks community. Stop The Checkpoints has also been invited to participate in a community forum on immigration issues in Port Townsend on March 22nd, so one upcoming project will be to update our display boards and posters! Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for all your support and enthusiasm over the past year! Stop The Checkpoints activities have motivated similar groups around the U.S. to keep up their efforts and we've broadened our contacts and mutual support with other groups. Your efforts have had quite an impact on Peninsula communities and kept the issues of civil liberties and immigration policy in the public eye. Here's to an even better year in 2012!
Lois Danks, Coordinator
********** To Keep BP Free Website - Or Not 12/28/11
There has been some interest in maintaining the Border Patrol Free website after all. Paul Richmond has offered to take over or at least contribute to the website in order to focus on "law enforcement", by which I assume means better monitoring of the Border Patrol activities, and to find ways to protect witnesses. And Alex Hepler has a new blog which keeps track of the Border Patrol. So stay tuned. We plan to take the "Border Patrol Free" website down at the end of the month - January 31, 2011 in ten days - to join the larger struggle of "The 99" represented by Occupy Wall Street. There is still plenty to do to document the abuses of the Border Patrol, work toward immigration reform and to organize for transparency and against the militarization of our police. We will continue these efforts within the Occupy Wall Street Movement. We don't plan to let up on the Border Patrol or give up the fight. If there are any stories, pictures or links on the "Border Patrol Free" website that you want to keep, take them now. If you don't know how email me and I will help you.
********** 12/19/11 Border Patrol Arrests down - costs up. Accountability still sketchy. 12/17/11 How about a Department of Justice investigation of the Border Patrol? An internal discussion.
********** 12/5/11 Officer John Pike has become meme. 12/1/11 But so that people don't think we are just anti police, former Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper, has been on the radio and quoted in the Seattle Times saying that when the police are militarized by the feds, "What emerges is a picture of a vital public-safety institution perpetually at war with it's own people."
11/27/11 Occupy Wall Street (OWS) seems to be a nation-wide, even world-wide protest against corporate control of our government and our society, that seems to make the single issue Peace Movement and Border Patrol Free groups appear less relevant - sort of the tail and maybe the leg but not the whole elephant. Lobbyists are vying for contracts to smear OWS and Homeland Security (of which the Border Patrol is part) is "helping" local police with money, equipment and tactics, militarizing the local police . "What emerges is a picture of a vital public-safety institution perpetually at war with it's own people." said former Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper, as quoted in the Seattle Times today.
11/23/11 Our third forum for this fall will be on Saturday, Dec. 3rd from 2pm to 4pm at the Elwha Heritage Center in Port Angeles (401 East 1st St at Peabody). See the attached flyer. I am pleased to announce that we have special guest speaker, veteran civil liberties attorney Val Carlson, from Seattle for the forum "No Police State: defending civil liberties in times of protest"
11/22/11
11/18/11
It's one of the best I've seen - really good interviews with Latino residents, Republican farmers who voted for the Republican governor but now disagree with him, other farmers and the Governor too. It would be a good video to use as part of whatever classes the UU holds. Libby
http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/content/alabama-video
11/17/11
http://www.uua.org/immigration/re/moral/guide/index.shtml
Yes, it looks great. I'm glad this is happening at UU and with the Catholic church. It should radiate out from there. Libby
10/3/11
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9/25/11 No News Yet about Closed Door Meeting with Border Patrol - Do our Elected Officials Really Represent Us? Several of us, independently, wrote letters of support to Norm Dicks, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, full of expectation and expressing our support for the "closed-door" meeting they set up with the Border Patrol last Wednesday. We all wrote different letters and we are all concerned about slightly different aspects of the "Border Patrol Problem". But we all got back the exact same form letter from Maria Cantwell - Dicks and Murray haven't bothered to respond yet. Cantwell's form letter was far from satisfying. See our letters.
9/20/11 See how to contact your Elected Officials.
Norm Dicks/Patty Murray/Maria Cantwell, I understand that you or your staff will be meeting, in closed session, with the Border Patrol on Wednesday, September 21. We appreciate your concern and we thank you. We are concerned that the Border Patrol is overstaffed and planning to build a large complex, which seems a waste of money, in Port Angeles. We are also concerned that the Border Patrol seems to be targeting people without legal status rather than terrorists or criminals in spite of our President's assurances. Most of all we are concerned about the secrecy. The last thing this country needs is an unaccountable federal secret police force. I hope you will encourage or force the Border Patrol to be as open and accountable as our local police and sheriff are - and that you are.
Respectfully yours,
9/15/11 - Talk About a Broken Immigration System 8/18/11 - Fewer Youths to Be Deported in New Policy Would help young people who are in the country illegally but pose no threat to national security or to the public safety. Maybe they will have had to have graduated from high school and want to go on to college or serve in the armed forces. 8/18/11 - Los Angeles judge says Secure Communities' documents show immigration officials misled public - LA Times
8/17/11 - Agent counters allegations of ‘boredom’ while protestors picket site of proposed BP office. - Amanda Winters in the Sequim Gazette
8/17/11 - Port Townsend Leader Editorial: New look at Border Patrol 8/16/11 - Border Patrol supervisor defends Port Angeles office Seattle Times follows story.
8/15/11 - John McKay Says U.S. Attorney Could Put a Stop to Border Patrol's Expansionism - "It never would have happened when I was U.S. attorney. Never."
8/13/11 - The Canadian National Post picks up the story.
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Checkpoints picketing next Monday, Aug 15th at noon at the Border Patrol Station construction site, 110 South Penn Street, Port Angeles, WA. Print flyer and post in public places, take to your meetings, and forward to your e-mailing lists. Thank you for your support and hope to see lots of you at the Monday picket line!!!
Lois Danks
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7/29/11 Border Patrol Agent Tells It Like It Is - and pays the price. "There is little work to do" at the Port Angeles, Wash., station, says Agent Christian Sanchez. He calls it a "black hole" where agents have "no purpose and no mission." "The worst fraud on taxpayers is that we are getting paid overtime not to work," Sanchez said in a prepared statement. When he first started working at the station, "I noticed it was common practice for everyone to get paid overtime not to work. Back then there were about twenty-four agents and our entire station was receiving at least two hours of Administratively Uncontrolled Overtime." Now, he said, there are more than 40 agents there." Read more in the Washington Post. ...
Thanks to Alex in Port Hadlock for the link.
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7/27/11 Nowhere-Near-the-Border Patrol in Forks - How a flush government agency found trouble in the coastal home of Twilight - Great article with good background by Nina Shapiro in the Seattle Weekly
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7/8/11 Illegal Immigration Declining Leaving many undocumented victims and a huge federal police force. Overall illegal immigration is declining according to a new study reported in the New York Times. Exuberant enforcement has caused havoc in agricultural states and engendered a backlash against Border Patrol secret police tactics here and elsewhere. At the same time fewer people seem to want to come to the US. It seems just a matter of time before a more rational US Immigration Law is passed - no matter what we do. Immigrants who are already here illegally, however, need help. Immigrants without papers are much more likely to be victims or political refugees than criminals, as some of the stories below, especially the NPR series, illustrate. So what should we do? Read more and participate in the discussion. Atop A Train, Migrants Begin Dangerous Trek To U.S. - First in a three-part series on NPR Will the Feds Deport Jose Antonio Vargas? - Probably not. Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North - Illegal immigration from Mexico to the US is declining. The killing in Guatemala has subsided, life is better and families are smaller in Mexico while the border drug wars and increased immigration enforcement in the US make the US less attractive. And it's a little easier to get a visa or a green card than it was.
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6/27/11 Front Page Article in the Seattle Times by Lornet Turnbull about the "climate of fear" in Forks. Don't miss the powerful video, "Marriage and the Border Patrol". This a day after the rally with Rep. Luis Gutierrez in Seattle and the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Jose Antonio Vargas, who outed himself in the NYT Magazine and only a week before the scheduled mass event "Coming Out of the Shadows" on July 2. Seems to beg some sort of resolution - hopefully a peaceful himanitarian resolution like immigration reform.
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6/26/11 Coming Out of the Shadows / Día de Salir de las Sombras Saturday, July 2 - 4:30pm - 6:00pm Portland City Hall, Portland OR Information: 503 960 5288 Video On July 2nd undocumented youth will be sharing their stories with the public as Undocumented Unafraid & Unapologetic, in HOPE to empower our Northwest Undocumented youth and families. La Alianza de Jóvenes inmigrantes del Noroeste organizara su primera acción de salir de las sombras como indocumentados sin miedo, para inaugurar el inicio de la organización dirigida por jóvenes indocumentados sin miedo. Para abrir el evento nos acompañara la comisionada Amanda Fritz de la ciudad de Portland. El 2 de julio jóvenes indocumentados, sin miedo compartirán sus historias con la comunidad, con la esperanza de motivar a nuestra comunidad y nuestras familias a tomar acción para luchar por nuestros derechos humanos y nuestra dignidad.
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And as inspiration, a high profile article in today's NYT Magazine by Pulitzer prize winning reporter, Jose Antonio Vargas, coming out as undocumented And a follow-up article.
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6/22/11 Border Police Must Release Arrest Statistics in NY Federal Judge Rules Border Police Must Release Arrest Statistics in upstate New York
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Immigration Rally Sunday, June 26, at 1:30 pm Rep. Luis Gutierrez from Illinois, will hold a rally co-sponsored by NWIRP at Seattle's Town Hall (1119 8th Ave Seattle). Rep. Gutierrez has been a very strong champion for immigration reform. He has been traveling around the country holding meetings to highlight the human consequences of our broken immigration system and calling on the Obama administration to take action to mitigate those consequences in the short term. We are thrilled to welcome him!
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United Farm Workers
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 U.S. Border Patrol Agent Chris Dyer scanning for license numbers
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6/18/11 'An atmosphere of fear' - Forks story goes national
AP story - front page in the PDN
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But still no answers:
Read more about Secretive federal arrests Alex Hepler
Comment: Excessive Enforcement Unfair and UnAmerican - Jim Buckley ********** Incident Report - Another undocumented man jailed Hello, I assisted one of our community members to complete an incident report which we mailed to Coalition in Chimicum but it was returned by the postal service stating that no forwarding address was left for that PO Box. Attached please find the statement. Will you forward it to whoever it should go to? Thank you…Patsy Brown
Patsy Brown
********** Australian who bicycled from Florida to Port Townsend about to be deported David Fagan looks pretty white. So does this show that the Border Patrol doesn't always profile people of color but is always draconian? His visa had run out. For this he is jailed, deported and never allowed to return to the US? Is forgetting to renew your visa sort of like armed robbery or more like forgetting to renew your drivers license?
********** The Border Patrol Responds to 911 calls and Monitors Police Radios In several news stories recently - a traffic accident, a speeding ticket, an altercation with a highway worker - the Border Patrol is mentioned as being on the scene as "backup". Several people have reported that the Border Patrol responds to 911 calls. They must be monitoring police radios. A community, afraid and intimidated by the Border Patrol is not going to call the police or 911, no mater what, if they think the Border Patrol is going to show up. Maybe we should get a police radio and show up too.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project A new resource which provides news and offers training and legal assistance. Please note the top five news stories which includes a story about Benjamin Roldan Salinas and one on the New York and Massachusetts refusal to participate in SECURE COMMUNITIES program. See Judy's comment.
6/6/11
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6/2/11 Open Letter to the Editor of the Leader ... I am concerned about the erosion of our civil liberties. I am concerned about disregard for worker and immigrant rights. I am concerned with reported harassment of those on the Peninsula who are of Hispanic ethnicity. I am concerned with the additional layers of enforcement and repetition of police work already done by our sheriff, P.T. police force, and the Coast Guard ... Read the entire letter in "Comments and Letters.
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Good Seattle Weekly article on BP activities in Forks
Port Commission signed the lease with the GSA Report by Libby Palmer The lease is signed with GSA - Government Services Administration - and in theory the space could be used by any governmental agency. Even though we didn't yet have a copy of the lease to examine - contrary to law and the rules of public meetings - we know and the Commissioners verified that there is no language within the lease to prevent BP from ever using the facilities. However the new space will be occupied only by local customs, certainly for a while and hopefully for a long while. Locally and regionally, Customs has no love for BP, the BP does not have keys to the current customs office and won't have them for the new space. We learned from other sources that Customs nationally is strapped for funds and person-power partly because most of the Homeland Security money goes to BP. That will unfortunately continue and we'll just have to continue being vigilant, no matter what. They're getting 4 parking spaces, 2 in front and 2 behind the building. I think 2 of the spaces will be fenced, judging from the few details that came up at the meeting.
Refuge and Forced Displacement of Indigneous Peoples Y en Espaniol
Press release from Forks Human Rights Group |
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The Forks Human Rights Group wishes to extend our support and prayers to the family of Benjamin. The search continues tonight and tomorrow. Please maintain your faith and hope at this painful time. If you wish to contact us, please email our group at: ForksHumanRights@gmail.com If you wish a reply or an interview, please leave your name, e-mail, and phone number where you may be contacted.
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5/16/11
West End man missing after Sol Duc River plunge
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May 15, 2011
BP Round Up in Forks.
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And today (Sunday) from Forks, "I think 4 other people detained yesterday, and Wed there were 2 others..."
Please Help
Maria Cantwell's office
Patty Murray's office
Norm Dicks office
The reps just take the info but Dicks' office was really nice and asked if they could call back for more info if needed. Libby
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5/15/11
Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater's Founder Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater Worldwide, has been hired to assemble a force of foreign troops in the United Arab Emirates, according to a variety of sources. Read more in the New York Times.
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5/13/11 U. S. Senator Maria Cantwell introduced the DREAM Act in the 112th Congress - a first step in the process of immigration reform. If you wish. contact Senator Cantwell
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May 11, 2011 "I question the need for such a large Border Patrol presence," Clallam sheriff, Bill Benedict told Democrats at a meeting in Sequim as reported in the Peninsula Daily News. "And the reason I question it is I know their activity. I think they made less than 20 arrests last year." (Hmmm ... Maybe that's why they don't want to report their arrests.) |
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Port Commission met on Wed, May 11, 2011 to consider renting offices to the GSA for a US Customs officer
The Commission initiated the process for leasing to the General Services Administration (GSA) on behalf of the "one US Customs officer now in the Post Office building" - the "guys in the blue uniforms, not the guys in the green uniforms" (Border Patrol) said Larry Crocket. No mention was made of the vehicle impound lot initially part of the lease. The five or six of us who oppose the Port leasing to the Border Patrol thought 1,500 sq feet was a lot of space for a one man office. Libby Palmer and Paul Richmnond made comments urging disclosure and transparency and Paul wondered if, since they are all under Homeland Security, if the Border Patrol could end up there anyway. We all went away worried that we hadn't accomplished anything except put the Commission on notice that we care about this issue and expect them to facilitate public discussion.
BACKGROUND:
COMMENT: Not sure how this works since procedures are already in place to clear customs at Port Townsend. see http://www.portofpt.com/us_customs.htm My understanding is that US Customs is already housed in PT- in the building originally constructed for that purpose. See http://www.preservationnation.org/partners-in-preservation/seattle/port-townsend-customs.html The US Dept. of Homeland Security flag is plainly displayed on the SW end of the building.
Alex Hepler
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For Immigrants and Workers Rights
Sunday, May 1, 2011
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Work to begin this month on new Border Patrol headquarters in Port Angeles reports the Penninsula Daily News What became of public comments Re: The draft environmental assessment on construction, operation and maintenance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's new Border Patrol station at Port Angeles? Why are US Border Patrol arrests reported in Whatcom County, but not on the Olympic Peninsula? See http://tinyurl.com/WhatcomCounty Alex, Port Hadlock |
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Cinco de Mayo at La Isla Please join a bunch of us at La Isla on May 5th - Cinco de Mayo - at 6 pm. Music by Pete McCracken, Marla Streater and others. This is not a meeting, just a coming together of friends who share similar concerns - and love of Mexican food and music. If you can join us at 6 pm, be sure to let me know pronto. La Isla agreed to take a reservation if there were 8 of us - they don't usually do it on Cinco de Mayo. Please pass this on to others but tell them to contact Libby or CLICK HERE for sure.
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4/16/11 Benjamin Prado, AFSC San Diego, and Pedro Sosa, AFSC Portland, provided a very instructive workshop today in Forks, WA. The workshop included a review of the historical background and made use of several videos documenting Border Patrol and ICE raids in San Diego.
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The workshop at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church om Forks was attended by about twenty-five people from various communities on the Peninsula determined to stop the police state tactics of the Border Patrol. Lots of good information was distributed and shared among the groups which we will feature here in the next few days and weeks. Stay tuned or Contact Us and get involved.
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Senior Citizen Worried About Granddaughter Adopted from Guatemala 4/16/11 I am a senior citizen, but active, and have some organizing experience. I want to do something to contain this menace and end the racial profiling. My family was in the first auto checkpoint-stop on Rt 104 west of the Hood Canal bridge. We were flabbergasted, outraged, and felt intimidated. Since then the Border Patrol presence has increased dramatically, yet they refuse to give the press or the public, information making their increased presence and purpose in any way transparent. My granddaughter is a US citizen who was adopted from Guatemala. The idea that she would be questioned is frightening. She would be traumatized. The idea that my daughter (her mother) must carry her daughter's U.S. citizenship papers here is repugnant and to feel you must to do that to protect a child, is racism. This is what was experienced the months we lived in Guatemala during the adoption process, living in fear of the corrupt police who might take our child, hold her for ransom, or make her "disappear". These 'secret police' tactics in OUR area (!) have got to be stopped!
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New Letters and Comments Page 4/17/11 Lot's more people are writing in with suggestions or comments like the one above so we thought we would create a new Comments page. Take a look. Soon we will reorganize more of the pages on the website. There is a lot of good information but some of it is out of date and could at least be organized more effectively. Suggestions and help are solicited. CLICK HERE. |
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4/14/11
Border Patrol to Rent Office at Point Hudson in Port
Townsend? The issue of the Border Patrol renting offices and space for impounded vehicles at Point Hudson is before the Port Commission. At the Port Commissioner's meeting Wednesday April 13, 2011 Libby Palmer, Paul Richmond, Kate Franco, Alex Hepler and Jim Buckley made statements to the Commission urging them not to rent to the Border Patrol - at least not without a full public discussion.
Statement by Kate Franco Comment: - Odd for a town that sees no reports of USBP arrests in local papers to require a federally impounded vehicle storage lot. I wonder if they are preparing to do checkpoints again? - Alex Hepler
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4/12/11
Purchase of Eagles lodge
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BP Still Boarding Busses 3/18/11 As you can see in this photo taken yesterday in front of Fat Smitties on 101, the border patrol is still boarding busses. Nancy
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Opportunity for Comment Draft Environmental Impact Statement 2/28/11 BREAKING NEWS: The Peninsula Daily News for taday, Feb. 28th, has a notice in the classifieds of a 30-day comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement released last Friday, which says the new Border Patrol Station being built at the Port Angeles Eagle's Club property, will have minimal or no impact on the environment, cultural, or social environment, economy, etc. This is the last chance to comment before they close the real estate deal to buy the Eagles property! The Draft of the "FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS" is interesting reading with the names and comments (almost all pro-Border Patrol) of those who attended a meeting in July, 2010
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2/4/11
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Hi Folks, I followed Border Patrol into Cape George today. CG is supposed to be a "members only" community. I believe that even police and sheriff deputies cannot come in unless someone calls them. It was very disturbing to see them there. I did not have my camera, but I had my i-phone, so here are the 2 pictures I got. I did run home to get my camera, but they were gone when I got back. Kate Franco 2/10/11 - I just received confirmation that the Border Patrol will be leasing a building from The Port of Port Townsend out at Point Hudson. We'll be seeing lots more of them around PT, and probably in your neighborhoods.
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Follow-Up on Local Reporting of Border Patrol Activities 3/21/11 The Northwest Report writes a good, well researched story on the Border Patrol Hiding Truth in Washington State and the local press not reporting it. Read the artcile 2/23/11 A couple of months ago we reported that Port Hadlock Blogger, Alex Hepler, had raised the question about a blackout in the local media about the Border Patrol activities. We emailed both the Leader and the PDN to see if that were true. Allison Arthur of the Leader checked with her editor, Scott Wilson who thought it "a good story idea" for the near future. No direct response from the PDN but they did run an article on 1/6/11 again signaling their full compliance with a USBP dictated news blackout - "due to national security concerns".
Based on reports in local papers- we have no idea what USBP agents are doing on the Olympic Peninsula. Checkpoints ended in 2008 - yet USBP is expanding to a 50 agent station at Port Angeles? If there are local concerns Re: immigration, drug smuggling, human trafficking, terrorism, etc.- connected in any way to the US/Canada border- those concerns go completely unreported in local papers. No such concerns are mentioned unless federal grant money is coming to local LE agencies- then we are reminded of the threats we face. The US Border Patrol commutes 94 miles round-trip from Port Angels to cruise around the Port Townsend ferry dock. Lots of tanks of gas burned for how many arrests? Has there ever been a USBP arrest in Port Townsend? We'll never know by reading the papers- since they do not report on USBP arrests. No justification has been provided Re: a new 50 agent USBP station - other than "Remember 911" and you can see Vancouver Island on the horizon. Alex Hepler
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Judge orders woman adopted as baby deported to Mexico 12/12/10 A federal immigration judge has ordered a 38-year-old Washington woman adopted by an American couple from Mexico when she was 5 months old to be deported back to her native country. Tara Ammons Cohen fears being deported to Mexico - where she hasn't lived since she was an infant, doesn't speak the language and knows no one - would place her in danger. She is currently in the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. Read entire article in the News Tribune
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Dangerous Outlaw Willie Nelson
Detained by Border Patrol in Texas
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Border Patrol to Buy Eagles Lodge in Port Angeles 11/19/10 The Peninsula Daily News announced today Border Patrol, Eagles lodge come to deal for government to buy Port Angeles building. The article included a picture of the inside of the Eagles Lodge. It may be the last time any ordinary citizen gets a view of the inside. The current Border Patrol offices in the Federal Building are inaccessible to the public.
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Do you suppose there is enough room in the Eagles Lodge for 25 Border Patrol officers? How about 50? How about a holding facility? The Eagles felt they had to unload the building when their membership dropped from a high of 3,000 to around 900 currently.
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Port Hadlock Blogger Raises Interesting Questions 11/8/10 I have been following the news on local US Border Patrol events over the past year. I put together a page with news links to document various events. The main takeaway is that USBP has been in the habit of responding to routine local law enforcement dispatch in the Port Angeles area and is moving to establish a 50 agent station. USBP is secretive about any justification for a 50 agent station. Here is my page: http://tinyurl.com/DontAskDontTellUSBP
Alex Hepler
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Private Prisons Lobby behind AZ Anti-immigration Law 10/28/10 Interesting news this morning: Private prisons behind Arizona's immigration law to build prisons "for women and children who are 'illegal' immigrants" for profit. This seems to be a clear pattern from the ICE raid in Iowa in 2008 through the secure private prison for undocumented aliens in Tacoma, the plans to build a new prison in Port Angeles and now this "master plan" revealed in Arizona.
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 Glenn Nichols, city manager of Benson, AZ
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ACLU to Press Lawsuit Against the Border Patrol The Border Patrol has announced that they are resuming checkpoints on the Olympic Peninsula and the ACLU is pursuing legal action. If you have stories to tell about the Border Patrol, please contact Sara Dunne or Eric Nygren at the ACLU: 206 624 2184. See also ACLU Lawsuit and the Links page especially ACLU considers lawsuit against Border Patrol and The ACLU Opposes Checkpoints Away From the Border
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The Fourth Amendment So why do we care about the Fourth Amendment? I'm not doing anything wrong?
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Keep and eye on the Border Patrol.
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Border Patrol Free Zone Decals Click here for details.
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