PORT ANGELES — A homeland security base for air and water protection along the saltwater border between the U.S. and Canada will be based in Port Angeles.
The new substation for Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Services will patrol the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the air and water’s surface, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Giuliano said Thursday.
The substation has already been approved, but Customs and Border Protection — an agency of the federal Homeland Security Department — is now figuring out where it will be located, who and how many people will staff it and where to park a boat now in St. Augustine, Fla.
In many cases, these types of stations are joined with other entities, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, another Homeland Security agency.
“We aren’t really sure yet where it will be located or when,” Giuliano said.
The air and marine personnel, along with aircraft and patrol boats, will join 24 Border Patrol agents who are already stationed in Port Angeles.
The 24 agents are an increase from the four who were stationed in Port Angeles only two years ago.
