What is going on with this small border town?

Hello. I live in Sequim, Washington. Population around 5,000, farm community. We are 15 minutes from Port Angeles, a slightly more populated and known town, partly because of military.

We are located on the Olympic Peninsula and have a grand view of both the water towards Canada and of the Olympic Mountains.

Canada is not accessible by land over here, but we have do have a ferry system in Port Angeles that goes to Victoria, Canada.

I'd like to share with you all now, some major developments in this area over the last few years and get your opinion.



Sequim man apprehended, released by border patrol
by EVAN McLEAN
Sequim Gazette

Jose Antonio Hernandez had a tough weekend.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested Hernandez and Daniel Rodriguez, both of Sequim, Jan. 30 after performing a traffic stop on Rodriguez’s truck.

Both were transported to a holding facility in Tacoma.

Hernandez, 28, was released Feb. 2 after authorities reviewed his case.
The men’s arrests led to a four-person protest Jan. 31 at the intersection of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street.


The Border Patrol began performing the random checkpoints in 2008 at three points on the north Olympic Peninsula.


Border Patrol spokesmen have indicated the checkpoints are within their jurisdiction, 100 miles from the border, and are a part of their effort to catch terrorists, instruments of terror and drug activity.


LINK for full article:
www.sequimgazette.com...


"As part of that mission, the agency has increased in size from four to 24 agents on the peninsula within two years and plans to build a large facility with a short-term detention area in Port Angeles.

Agents have increased their number of arrests on the north peninsula, especially through random vehicle checkpoints on U.S. Highway 101 but occasionally from single-vehicle stops and arrests at the home of at least one illegal immigrant in Sequim, according to witness reports.


article above link here:
search.sequimgazette.com...


Heres a Pro Border Patrol article from Seattle News:
www.komonews.com...




Border Patrol boards Peninsula's bus line to Seattle


By Rob Ollikainen
Peninsula Daily News


PORT ANGELES -- Bus riders can expect Border Patrol agents to board an Olympic Bus Lines bus at least once a week to question riders, according to the president of the private bus company.

"The Border Patrol works off of intelligence," he said. "We gather intelligence and are reactive with it. That may play a role in why we're checking buses or operating in certain areas."

The Border Patrol this year operated several roadblocks, called tactical traffic checkpoints, during which Peninsula motorists were questioned by agents.

The last roadblock was Sept. 9, Bermudez said.

"If a bus were to come though a checkpoint, we could board the bus," he said.

Read full article here:
www.peninsuladailynews.com...


Congressman wants Border Patrol review

Congressman Norm Dicks wants an investigation into actions by the Border Patrol on the Olympic Peninsula.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Dicks described the series of vehicle checkpoints and bus boardings that have raised local concerns about the Border Patrol.

In his letter, Dicks questions the national security value of the checkpoints versus the inconvenience of stopping hundreds of local motorists.

Dicks met in October with the Chief of the Border Patrol, but he thinks the agency has since become more aggressive with the traffic stops.

Link here: www.konp.com...




[edit on 1-8-2009 by itsblownbackbaby]

[edit on 1-8-2009 by itsblownbackbaby]

Star, and flag. What's going On? The everincreasing power/control of the NWO. It's kept quiet, but the areas within I believe 60 miles of any US border don't have their constitutional rights as such. That's the reason for the searches.

Star, and flag. What's going On? The everincreasing power/control of the NWO. It's kept quiet, but the areas within I believe 60 miles of any US border don't have their constitutional rights as such. That's the reason for the searches.

Very interesting. S&F and Bump

Surely someone has some thoughts on this.

I looked at the population in 2007, only 3,000.

They are looking for something/someone or maybe just starting their police state somewhere small as a test.

Here's more.

Homeland Security could join with Clallam law enforcement for new digs

By Brian Gawley, Peninsula Daily News


Sept. 10, 2007

Clallam County, WA Larger headquarters for the federal Border Patrol in Clallam County could include space for emergency operations and dispatching for the county's law enforcement agencies.

"We are studying it and having productive meetings," Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said.

The Department of Homeland Security recently advertised for proposals for 12,000 square feet in the Port Angeles-Sequim area to expand.

Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen said that, after talking about the expansion plans with a Customs and Border Protection official, the 50 employees cited in the ad is not the immediate goal.

"He was not talking about expansion to 50 people. They are looking at a building that size for future growth," he said.

Giuliano envisions county and federal agencies sharing "a campus," although not individual buildings, and some support staff, such as maintenance crews.

The Homeland Security leasing office placed a classified advertisement in the Peninsula Daily News on Aug. 31 asking for proposals for a building with 8,000 to 12,000 square feet or 3 acres to 8 acres of undeveloped land.

The agency said it sought a five-year lease for the property, which would be in or near Port Angeles or Sequim and have 50 parking spaces.

www.citizenreviewonline.org...

and..
New Border Patrol headquarters on hold


By Paul Gottlieb
Peninsula Daily News


PORT ANGELES -- Plans for a new Border Patrol headquarters on the North Olympic Peninsula will be delayed for the foreseeable future and could inhibit further efforts at expanding enforcement of immigration laws, Border Patrol and General Services Administration officials said this week.

"It's on hold because of budgetary issues," said Ross Buffington, a spokesman for the General Services Administration's Seattle office.


The Border Patrol headquarters would be wholly distinct from the Office of Air and Marine Operations, which is leasing a 6,028-square-foot Port of Port Angeles building in the Airport Industrial Park near William R. Fairchild International Airport. Port commissioners approved the lease June 22.

"We haven't been able to find space to meet our requirements," Buffington said.

He would not say how much is budgeted for the project.

"GSA would not release information about how much it's planning to spend on a lease action in advance of going on the market and finding what is available on the market," Buffington said.

"We don't want to give out information that might tell prospective lessors what we intend to spend."

Border Patrol officials liken the planned facility to a police station more than a detention center.

It would include offices, a processing room and holding cells for suspects who would be transferred to a detention center in Tacoma after being processed.

The new facility also would include security fencing and an enclosed sally port for safely transferring suspects from agency vehicles to inside the headquarters. Ideally, it would be in a more remote area than downtown Port Angeles, said Jason Carroll, assistant Border Patrol agent in charge in Port Angeles.

Cells at headquarters

It includes two adjacent open-air grated cells in a room next to the processing area.

Carroll said the delay in getting a new headquarters may affect further growth in Border Patrol staff, contrary to a sign on the building's first floor that urged applicants to apply for Border Patrol jobs.

www.peninsuladailynews.com...

[edit on 1-8-2009 by itsblownbackbaby]

Originally posted by liveandlearn
Very interesting. S&F and Bump

Surely someone has some thoughts on this.

I looked at the population in 2007, only 3,000.

They are looking for something/someone or maybe just starting their police state somewhere small as a test.

thank you... it's really unnerving, I mean, you can't leave the house anymore without seeing at least 1 border patrol vehicle, and often you don't see them on the highway but driving around inside our town.

I think the government is increasingly irrelevant so to increase their seeming relevance they do this Gestapo crap. I guess you can not have a tyranny without a Gestapo to enforce the ruler's Authority.

Originally posted by sanchoearlyjones
Star, and flag. What's going On? The everincreasing power/control of the NWO. It's kept quiet, but the areas within I believe 60 miles of any US border don't have their constitutional rights as such. That's the reason for the searches.

I dunno..I know you're right about being a certain proximity to the borders..

but in the republican presidential election, half this county voted for mccain and the other half for ron paul and ron paul won our district.

I see free mason stickers on cars, "support your border patrol" stickers, lots of retired military live here and the cops here are of the good ol' boy type.

Hence the "split" between the people who are for and against what is going on right now with the border patrol.

we know they dont care about illegal immigration ....they keep the borders wide open.. Im originally from San Diego County by the border...and I never saw border patrol activity like this...

if they had indication of a terror cell, why dont they just say so? They aren't exactly telling us to keep our eyes open for any certain type of person(s) and this is one small town, where everyone knows everyone, lemme tell you, unless you live under a rock eating off the land, you couldnt hide here..

I live in Phoenix, and I see Border Patrol and DHS everywhere. My question is this: The Border Patrol was doing the best they could with what they had, especially considering they got absolutely no cooperation from Washington, up until the DHS take over of border operations. Enforcement has not increased at all by DHS, so what was the point?

The only explanation I can come up with is to widen the duties of the Border Patrol to include the stopping and random searches of the vehicles of American citizens.

Checkpoints used to be a random thing. Now they're constant and in more places, and yet, no more "successful" at their declared mission of securing the borders. I am all for securing the borders, but this method is obviously a total failure and I believe that nothing is done by the government by accident.