05/13/2008: "Town & County Draft Letter On Spot Checks"

The Town of Friday Harbor and San Juan County Council have drafted a letter to send to Federal and State Legislators Murray, Cantwell, and Larsen. The letter is about spot checks at the Anacortes Ferry terminal.

The letter starts off with a statement that the Town and County Councils “met in joint session to discuss the increasingly frequent spot checks by the US Border Patrol,” and goes on to state that “both councils ere closely aligned in their concerns…”. But for County Councilman Rich Peterson, the beginning statements in the letter are the first of thirteen statements in a page and a half letter that are, not only incorrect, but in the case of the joint meeting statement, “appears to be an intentionally misleading revision” of an earlier draft letter.

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Peterson found very little about the letter that he could agree with, and forcefully set out his concerns, not only on a factual basis, but also with the tone, referring to one demand in the letter that the congressional delegation work to insure “that Border Patrol guards receive thorough training in courteous, non-aggressive behavior…” as “insulting.”

Peterson pointed out that in testimony before the Council, there was only “anecdotal allegations from a few residents who testified before us who seemed to exhibit inappropriate conduct themselves, and therefore lack credibility..”

Peterson ended his list of disagreement and criticism by stating “I can’t conclude how the tone of the letter would lead anyone to believe that we are searching -as the letter states- to ‘work cooperatively to find a balance between necessary security measures and important quality of life issues.”

Councilman Kevin Ranker said that “as Rich (Peterson) so wonderful pointed out during several discussions with climate change, lets focus on the things that we can actually weigh in on that are effecting our local community, as opposed to the broader things.”

Councilman Gene Knapp suggested that if “we are writing to Congress, why don’t we tell them to get on the stick and tell them to pass an up to date immigration law?”

Councilman Alan Lichter suggested they make some minor changes, and with that Chairman Howard Rosenfeld said “Okay, we will go forward with the draft as is.”