President Barack Obama’s announcement that his administration is relaxing deportation policies for young Latinos who are in the U.S. illegally drew praise mixed with disappointment across the North Olympic Peninsula, where the Border Patrol has drawn national attention for enlarging its presence in recent years.
The announcement made Friday was lauded for giving hope to the children of illegal immigrants — and criticized for not doing more to address the overall problesm posed by having an estimated 10 million undocumented residents in the United States.
The new policy says that illegal immigrants younger than 30 who came to the United States as children will be able to obtain renewable work permits and be safe from deportation for two years, with no limits on how many times the permit can be renewed.
“I would say that probably a few people are breathing a real sigh of relief,” said Bryon Monohon, mayor of Forks.
“It has to be a relief for some people, for sure,” Monohon said.
Among those who would have benefitted from the new policy had it been in effect earlier was Edgar Ayala, an honors student who was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint in 2008 when he was 19 and who subsequently agreed to be deported to Mexico.
Ayala’s parents brought him into the United States as an infant.
Victor Velazquez of Forks called Friday’s announcement “a great first step.”
Velazquez, a Quileute Tribal School administrator, is a member of the Forks Human Rights Group.
The organization conducts on-site documentation of traffic stops by the Border Patrol, which is the focus of a federal lawsuit for its stepped-up activities on the West End, where many Latinos are employed gathering forest products.
The Border Patrol has increased its staffing on the North Olympic Peninsula from four agents in 2006 to 42 in February and is building a new, $10 million headquarters in Port Angeles.
A request for comment to the Blaine Sector Border Patrol on how the new policy will affect Border Patrol operations was referred to the media office of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.
A Homeland Security media affairs representative in Washington, D.C., referred the query to an agency website address, http://tinyurl.com/ccegfmj, which lists answers to several questions about the new policy and includes a Spanish-language version.
The Spanish-language version is at http://tinyurl.com/842dbog.
The new policy is “a wonderful first step toward the eventual full integration of national immigration reform,” Velazquez said.
“I’m not sure if the youth fully realize how much it actually will affect them directly until we get examples of it happening locally,” he said.
“It’s not me being pessimistic and negative, but realistically, it’s best to see the action and not read about it,” Velazquez said.
“Experience it, and that’s when we will get excited.”
The relaxed policy “will fit some people in our community,” said Lesley Hoare, an organizer of the Forks Human Rights Group.
“It’s good to know they can get a work permit and look for a job, but I don’t know it if will help with their future studies,” she said.
“It’s good to be able to be here without fear of being deported to a country they don’t know. Hopefully, there will be more to come.”
Port Angeles Schools Superintendent Jane Pryne said the issue of the new policy’s impact on school district students is “a political question.”
The school district’s student population is 1.5 percent Latino, Pryne said.
“We are here to educate all students who come through our door,” she said.
Pryne has not heard any instances of students fearful of being deported, she said.
School Board President Patti Happe did not return a call for comment Friday.
Lois Danks of Port Angeles, organizer of the group Stop the Checkpoints, which has demonstrated against Border Patrol activities, did not return calls for comment Friday.
The new policy will “have a huge meaning” for young people illegally in this country, said former Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval, the daughter of Mexican-born parents and a current City Council member.
“For me, personally, I wish it was a true and broad immigration policy and not just for undocumented immigrants under 30, and yet, it’s a start,” she added.
“I’m glad I live here, glad my parents came here in the 1920s. My life would be a lot different if they hadn’t.”
A federal lawsuit was filed in April by the American Civil Liberties Union and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, who want to bar the Border Patrol from doing traffic stops on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The suit says that the stops are made without reasonable suspicion that crimes are occurring.
Matt Adams, legal director for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said he expects the federal government to file an answer to the lawsuit by Friday.
It stems from tensions between immigrants and the expanded presence of Border Patrol agents on the North Olympic Peninsula.
About a week after the suit was filed, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed a complaint with the federal departments of Justice and Homeland Security outlining concerns over the use by local law enforcement of Border Patrol agents for translation services, saying that agents often end up questioning the individuals — and sometimes arresting them for immigration violations.
The federal government has not responded to the complaint, Adams said.
Forks was the site of a meeting of the state Commission on Hispanic Affairs two weeks ago.
During the meeting more than 80 people heard law enforcement officials talk about interactions with the Border Patrol.
Adams said he does not expect the government to pursue legal action against the parents of children who employ the new policy.
Jorge Baron, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said the new policy should make clear to the Border Patrol “that some people should not be targeted.”
But the population that the policy applies to “is very narrow compared to the size of the undocumented population,” Baron said.
“It’s an important development, but it doesn’t solve the other issues we’ve been dealing with regarding the Border Patrol.”
Port Angeles Border Patrol Agent Christian Sanchez’s July 29 testimony in Washington, D.C., to a watchdog group, the Sunlight Foundation Advisory Committee on Transparency, focused national media attention on agency activities on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Sanchez said the Port Angeles Border Patrol station is an overstaffed “black hole” with “no purpose, no mission.”
Sanchez said that after he told supervisors there was little for him to do and that “our station was misusing federal funds,” he and his family, including his two daughters, were subjected to “ugly harassment” by federal officials.
A spokesman for the Blaine Sector Border Patrol did not respond to a query late Friday afternoon on whether Sanchez, who had requested a transfer, still works in Port Angeles.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
