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LATEST BORDER PATROL UPDATE
- Port Townsend City Council passes Border Patrol resolution
- View videos from two City Council meetings
- Checkpoints Resuming; Bus Boardings Continue
On April 6th, a group of PTPM members, representatives of
Stop The Checkpoints, and other concerned citizens attended
the Port Townsend City Council meeting. During the Public
Comment portion of the meeting, signatures gathered on our
petition to "Keep the Border Patrol at the Border" were presented,
and the request was made for Council to adopt a resolution in support
of our efforts to create a Border Patrol Free Zone on the Olympic Peninsula.
Between 1250 and 1300 people signed the petition locally. Another 1488 signatures were gathered statewide
in an online version that the ACLU of Washington put on its website. Those signatures were sent directly
to Norm Dicks, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. The local signatures we collected on the petition will also be sent to our reps.
The petition reads:
We, the undersigned, urge that personnel, activities and funding
for Border Patrol inside our nation’s borders be reduced, and that
Homeland Security facility expansion be suspended:
- STOP Border Patrol checkpoints on our highways and at ferry terminals,
except at regular, established international border crossings.
- STOP Border Patrol ethnic and racial profiling.
- STOP Border Patrol surveillance, questioning and detaining inside our borders.
- STOP planned expansion for Dept. of Homeland Security Headquarters
and/or detention facilities.
We oppose Border Patrol activities inside our borders. These activities abuse our civil liberties,
waste physical and financial resources, and do not enhance border security.
The presentation of petitions to City Council and other public comments on local Border Patrol activities were filmed
by Dennis Daneau. Two short videos, "Port Townsend Activists request checks on Border Patrol," can be seen on YouTube by clicking
the links below:
Part 1
Part 2
At their June meeting, the City Council considered the resolution we requested, calling for suspension of expanded Border
Patrol activity. A 10-minute video by Dennis Daneau featuring several of the ten citizens who spoke in support of the resolution,
as well as comments from City Council members, may also be viewed on YouTube. View the video from that meeting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fYD7Rkz5QM
The resolution passed in a 6 to 1 vote.
See Resolution 09-025, "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON REGARDING EXPANDED
U.S. BORDER PATROL ACTIVITY ON THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA," here:
Port Townsend Resolution
The Border Patrol is boarding the Dungeness/Olympic Bus Lines twice a day at Discovery Bay (Fat Smitty's).
They have also announced that they will be resuming checkpoints on the Olympic Peninsula.
The ACLU is pursuing legal action.
If you have stories to tell about the Border Patrol, please contact Sara Dunne at the ACLU: 206-624-2184, extension 221
For more info on our local Border Patrol efforts, see: http://www.bpfree.org
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