The U.S. Border Patrol has arrested a Guatemalan national illegally in the United States after the agency was called by the Forks Police Department to provide translation assistance.
The Border Patrol arrested the unidentified person, who had been charged with under the influence-physical control, at the Forks jail Sept. 20, Border Patrol Blaine Sector spokesman Richard Sinks said Tuesday in a segregated “weekly blotter” of agency arrests in Whatcom, Clallam and Jefferson counties that include 11 citizens of India.
The three counties are part of the agency’s Blaine Sector, which covers Alaska, Oregon and the western half of Washington state.
The blotters do not include arrests that result in ongoing investigations.
They also are limited to one page per week and do not include all arrests, only those selected by the Border Patrol for public release.
“I just try to make a good mix that the community wants to hear about and put it all together,” Sinks said.
Nine incidents
Nine incidents were listed for the period of Sept. 14-26. The agency did not release a blotter last week.
The arrest at the Forks jail was the only Border Patrol arrest in Clallam and Jefferson counties that was listed for the two-week period.
A coalition of 21 civil liberties, immigration rights and labor groups is urging Washington state’s congressional delegation to look at stepped-up Border Patrol activity and staffing in the Blaine Sector and opposition among some to the Port Angeles Border Patrol station’s $5.7 million headquarters under construction.
Among the “troubling actions” cited by the group in a letter to the delegation was “Border Patrol agents purporting to serve as interpreters in routine law enforcement matters but triggering immigration enforcement action instead; and local law enforcement agents triggering immigration enforcement by Border Patrol without justification.”
Forks Police Chief Doug Price did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
Here are other incidents cited in the two weeks of blotters:
■ Three citizens of India were processed for removal Sept. 14 after a remote video surveillance camera recorded them entering near Lynden. A U.S. citizen who was picking them up in a taxi was released, and the taxi seized.
■ A citizen of Germany was arrested Sept. 14 after video surveillance recorded him walking down a road east of Blaine.
■ A Mexican citizen was arrested Sept. 15 during a Swinomish Tribal Police traffic stop near La Conner after police requested Border Patrol assistance.
■ A citizen of Mexico was arrested Sept. 15 during a Lynden Police Department traffic stop after police requested Border Patrol assistance.
■ A Canadian citizen was arrested Sept. 17 after illegally entering the United States on a bicycle near Lynden.
■ Border Patrol agents took custody of a Mexican national at the Whatcom County jail Sept. 25 after the person was arrested for domestic violence and admitted to being illegally in the U.S.
■ “Suspicious activity” Sept. 25 prompted Border Patrol agents to make contact with two people walking down a road near Bellingham, according to the blotter. The people were arrested and processed for removal from the U.S.
■ Eight citizens of India were processed for removal from the U.S. on Sept. 26 after a remote video surveillance camera recorded them entering the U.S. illegally near Lynden.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.