PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Transit officials said they will obey the law if U.S. Border Patrol agents want to board one of their buses.
They just want to be sure they know what the law is.
At a meeting Tuesday, the Jefferson Transit board discussed creating a specific policy for bus checks by Border Patrol agents, although no decision was made, said Dave Turissini, general manager.
In November, the Jefferson Transit Authority board — made up of county commissioners and Port Townsend City Council members — discussed whether federal Border Patrol authority trumped a reasonable right to privacy on a bus.
“One of the things that was brought to our attention was riders wanted to know what would happen if Border Patrol stopped and boarded our vehicles,” Turissini said.
“We don’t have a specific policy for that. Our only policy is to cooperate with law enforcement.”
The board directed Turissini and his staff to look into the rights of bus riders, and draft a policy communicating the rights of passengers in the event of such a stop.
“Staff was directed to see if we can develop a policy to do what we’re legally required to do, but also protect our passengers from unreasonable search and seizure,” Turissini said.
“The main issue would be to communicate to passengers what rights and responsibilities they have in the event of such a stop.”
Border Patrol activity stepped up on the North Olympic Peninsula last summer.
Agents operated roadblocks north of Forks and near the Hood Canal Bridge to check identification of those traveling on the highway.
They have detained suspected illegal immigrants and some citizens with warrants out for their arrests.
Agents have been reported boarding Olympic Bus Lines buses, which travel throughout the Peninsula and to the Seattle area.
No Transit checks
Bus checks are different from roadblocks, in which all vehicles — buses included — are stopped.
During bus checks, Border Patrol agents do not pull buses over. Instead,they board at bus stops and check identification of passengers.
The managers of Clallam Transit and Jefferson Transit lines said earlier this month that they had not had specific bus checks.
After a public forum on Nov. 3, where nearly 400 people crammed into the Chimacum High School auditorium, some riders expressed fears over Border Patrol presence on public buses, Turissini said.
One rider encouraged Jefferson Transit to implement a safe haven policy to quell fears of being hassled by Border Patrol on public buses, Turissini said.
On Tuesday Turissini said he was attempting to contact American Civil Liberties Union and the Defender’s Immigrant Project to define the legal parameters for a Jefferson Transit policy.
“It’s something we want to do,” he said. “But were not going to step out and create a policy on something we don’t have any expertise in.”
No Clallam discussion
Terry Weed, general manager, Clallam Transit System said that a specific bus check policy has “not been discussed, certainly not at the board level.
“All we have done is to train our drivers is that, if any law enforcement officer approaches the bus, to comply.”
As it stands now, Border Patrol agents can board any bus they choose, and they would be boarded and checked without any resistance, Turissini said.
“We’re not going to be protesters, but we want our passengers to know what our rights and responsibilities are,” he said.
“We want to give our drivers direction as to what they can and can’t do in such a situation.”
Turissini also intends to ask lawyers about agents boarding a bus to question passengers at a bus stop.
Border Patrol
Border Patrol Spokesman Michael Bermudez said agents legally can board public transit buses.
“Public transit is a public place. If it’s open to the public, then we can board,” he said.
“We can go wherever the public can go.”
However, Bermudez said agents were unlikely to board any public transit busses oeprating within a city limit.
“Any buses that aren’t leaving the area, we likely won’t check unless we receive some intelligence,” he said.
“We’re primarily concerned with buses and people that are leaving the area.”
The Border Patrol’s mission, Bermudez has said, is to maintain “operational control of our nation’s borders.”
That includes apprehending terrorists, deterring illegal entrance into the United States, stopping smugglers of drugs and people, developing smart border technology and cutting crime in border communities.
He said that federal law states that Border Patrol may board any vessel within the territorial waters of the U.S., and any railway car, aircraft or vehicle traveling along roads within a reasonable distance of an external boundary of the U.S.
“If a bus filled with individuals comes through a checkpoint, a Border Patrol agent will go through and check all the individuals on the bus,” he said.
Jefferson Transit has one bus route that goes down to the Hood Canal Bridge along state Highway 104 and one route that goes to Sequim along Highway 101.
During the Hood Canal Bridge closure in May-June to replace the eastern half of the bridge, Jefferson Transit intends to run up to 10 buses each day along Highway 104 to the passenger ferry terminal at South Point.
As part of a build-up of immigration law enforcement on the country’s northern border, Border Patrol agents based in Port Angeles have increased from four to 24 in two years, and the federal Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to build a facility, with a short-term detention area, in Port Angeles in 2009.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
