BORDER PATROL GROWS, AND SO DO CONCERNS

Jurisdiction Claims Mean Roadblocks Theoretically Could Be Set Up in Seattle

Shortly after riding a U.S. Border Patrol dune buggy in Arizona's
high desert 2 1/2 years ago, President George W. Bush initiated a
beefed-up border-security policy that some say has infringed on civil
liberties -- and led to crackdowns around Port Angeles and Bellingham.

"We want our borders shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals
and drug dealers and terrorists," declared Bush, who ordered the
Border Patrol to hire 6,000 more agents by the end of this year.

In Blaine, at the U.S.-Canada border, the Border Patrol has nearly
quadrupled in size -- from about 50 agents eight years ago to about
190 today. It's using its wealth of manpower to throw up roadblocks
on highways and search buses dozens of miles from the nearest border.

They're searching for terrorists, drug dealers and illegal
immigrants, a mission the Border Patrol says it has the right to do
within 100 miles of the border. In Western Washington, that means
roadblocks could be set up at least as far south as Seattle.

Agents make daily checks on the Olympic Peninsula of an intercity bus
line at its Discovery Bay stop, said Mike Bermudez, a supervisory
agent and spokesman.

"The agents ask everyone on the bus what their citizenship is," he
said. "No one on the bus but the driver can escape that question."

The owner of the bus line has no problem with the patrol boarding his buses.

"They're very good at what they do," said Olympic Bus Lines President
Jack Heckman, who hasn't heard any complaints. "They come on the bus,
announce who they are. It does not delay us at all."

The patrol had been questioning bus passengers sporadically for
years, Heckman said, but now "it's at least a weekly occurrence."

It's unclear how effective the tactic is at stopping terrorists. The
patrol refuses to release any information about such arrests or
investigations, citing national security considerations.

Eight undocumented people have been arrested as a result of bus
boardings on the Olympic Peninsula since fall 2007, Bermudez said. In
Bellingham, 13 people have been arrested in bus and train boardings
during the same period.

Roadblocks, which the patrol calls "tactical traffic checkpoints,"
have garnered more arrests.

Since the end of February, there have been 53 roadblocks set up at
the Anacortes ferry terminal, state Route 20 near Newhalem and U.S.
101 on the Olympic Peninsula. Agents have arrested 81 illegal
immigrants and turned 19 people over to other agencies for state
crimes. They did this by stopping 24,524 vehicles and checking 41,912
people in those vehicles, records show.

The American Civil Liberties Union is planning to sue over the
aggressive tactics.

"We think that this kind of enforcement activity is probably not
constitutional," said Shankar Narayan, legislative director of the
ACLU of Washington.

Stephen Dixon, a disabled veteran who uses medical marijuana, was
cited for misdemeanor pot possession by patrol agents at a roadblock.

He might have made the perfect case for the ACLU, but U.S. Attorney
Jeff Sullivan dismissed the marijuana charge last month and told the
patrol not to bring him any more small-time drug cases.

Sullivan said his office focuses on prosecuting "sophisticated
criminal organizations who smuggle million of dollars of drugs, guns
and other contraband across our borders."

But John Bates, the Border Patrol's chief in the Northwest, didn't
back away from what he sees as his agency's duty to enforce the law.

"These are immigration checkpoints," he said. "However, if we
encounter other violations of law, we are not going to turn our back on them."

The Border Patrol, Bates said, will take such cases to local police
to see if they want to file charges.

As for the checkpoints themselves, Bates points to U.S. Supreme Court
rulings that he says uphold their constitutionality.

The ACLU disputes the notion that the patrol has a blank check to set
up roadblocks or board buses without having a factual basis for doing
so. Narayan says the roadblocks and transit checks are only legal if
they are done within the context of specific information that
supports the actions.

Both Bates and Bermudez emphasize that the checks are triggered by
intelligence information, and are convinced that the action has a
deterrent value against drug- and people-smuggling rings.

"The United States has the right to control who enters the country
and enforce the integrity of its borders," Narayan said. "We are all
for that. But not at the expense of running roughshod over the Constitution."