WA sheriff, Border Patrol at odds over immigration

A sheriff on northwest Washington's Olympic Peninsula - the site of recent increased immigration enforcement by the U.S. Border Patrol - has decided not to seek federal money offered under a program that requires applicants to accept Border Patrol terminology that describes illegal immigrants as "criminal aliens."

Jefferson County Sheriff Michael D. Brasfield said in a recent letter addressed to the Border Patrol's Chief Patrol Agent John C. Bates in Blaine, Wash., that the description of illegal immigrants, and requirements that his deputies detain suspected illegal immigrants are "unacceptable."

Brasfield's criticism is another flare-up in the Border Patrol's expansion of its manpower and operations in this state - part of a nationwide push to bolster the patrol's presence on the country's northern border. Border Patrol agents now conduct roadblocks on Washington state highways miles from the border, monitor some ferry runs and board buses in higher frequency than before - actions that have drawn broad criticism.

The peninsula can only be reached from Canada by ferry.

The Border Patrol says its increased presence is necessary to protect a challenging, porous and busy border, which includes maritime and land crossings frequently used by drug traffickers.

At the center of Brasfield's disagreement with the Border Patrol is Operation Stonegarden, a program from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that provides federal money to law enforcement agencies in counties that have an international border. The grant money is being distributed through the Border Patrol. In the application, local law enforcement agencies have to agree to the outlines provided by the patrol.

Brasfield didn't.

"Unfortunately, the inclusion of language describing illegal aliens as 'criminal aliens' that 'are drawn here by criminal activities', coupled with the requirement participating agencies (described as 'Friendly Forces') agree to detain illegal aliens and turn them over to the Border Patrol, makes the overall document unacceptable," Brasfield wrote in his letter, dated Jan. 12.

Brasfield, who was elected sheriff in 2003, added that taxpayer money aimed at enhancing local law enforcement is being "held hostage to the very narrow operational agenda" of the Border Patrol.

He added he was puzzled at being invited to participate since Jefferson County does not actually have an international boundary; he noted it does have two international ports of entry.

Brasfield did not immediately return calls seeking elaboration on Friday.

More than 360 illegal immigrants were arrested by the Border Patrol between October 2008 and the end of January in the region that covers the Olympic Peninsula. In the previous fiscal year, 954 people were arrested, according to the Border Patrol.

"Our goal is to strengthen our relationship with all law enforcement, to include partnerships with our neighbors to the north," said Border Patrol spokesman Michael Bermudez.

The Whatcom County and Clallam County sheriff's offices have applied for the 2009 Operation Stonegarden grants, Bermudez added. Around $60 million is earmarked this year nationwide for the program.

The number of eligible law enforcement agencies declining to apply for the grants was not immediately available late Friday from the Border Patrol's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, who is in Brasfield's neighboring county, supports the agenda set by the Border Patrol.

"I don't agree that local law enforcement should be turning a blind eye to people breaking immigration laws," Benedict told the Peninsula Daily News. "We're not going to go out and actively investigate it, but we are going to support agencies who do investigate it."

Brasfield, however, is not alone in speaking out. Conner Daily, police chief of the Jefferson County seat of Port Townsend, has publicly set boundaries between his agency and the Border Patrol.

"We got plenty of things to do," Daily said late last year. "The checkpoints? We will not participate, won't book their inmates, won't make arrests."

Brasfield ended his letter by saying that his department will continue working with the Border Patrol and provide assistance when needed.

In 1999, Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian national who was convicted on multiple counts for plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport around Jan. 1, 2000, was caught by Customs agents with explosives in the trunk of his car when he drove off a ferry at Port Angeles, in Clallam County.

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On the Net:

Operation Stonegarden, http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/opsg/index.shtm

Clallam County Sheriff's Office, http://www.clallamsheriff.org/index.htm

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, http://www.jeffersonsheriff.org/index.asp

U.S. Border Patrol, http://cbp.gov/