Written by Don’t forget your passport if you go to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
The US Border Patrol is now spending your tax dollars checking up on Washington residents traveling within Washington, (warning, sarcasm alert…) on the theory that it is worth it because some of the Washington residents could actually be Canadian terrorists. After all, they could have swam or rafted from Canada to San Juan Island… these desperate Canadians can be very tricky when trying to get into our county.
I know what you are thinking…why wouldn’t the terrorist simply walk across the virtually unprotected 3000 miles of land border between our two nations, instead of paddling in a raft across the Strait to get to San Juan Island. But clearly you do not understand how tricky Canadian terrorists are.
Apparently, San Juan island is possibly teaming with Canadian terrorists, just waiting to sneak into the United States. So we better check everyone’s ID, and ask them what they are up to. Bill-of-Rights be damned…these are Canadians we are up against.
It’s even worse then you state above. The ferries they’re checking originated in Washington, not Canada. But even checking the ones arriving from Canada is kind of odd. Shouldn’t they be checking when people board
Probably they’re more concerned with catching pot smugglers than terrorists, though didn’t they catch Ressam(?) the bomb plotter coming into the US via a ferry from BC?
We probably shouldn’t gripe too loudly, as the Renton Airport is an international airport and perhaps we’d start to see a fleet or armored HumVees positioned at the north end of the field at the seaplane dock… or a patrol boat monitoring private helicopter lakeside landings
Hmm…
On the face of it, the Border Patrol is acting thuggish and stupid. Especially considering that they’re stretched thin elsewhere.
Perhaps they know something we don’t…. I’m not going to be too quick to condemn them just yet…
Re: Hmm…
I suppose they may have some information we don’t. This is a good point. I suppose it’s possible they have a basis for this, other than just a silly theory. If they had intelligence information, this would make more sense…and they may not want to reveal a source. Okay…. I’ll withhold final judgement too.
Re: Hmm…
Since they seem to be arresting a lot of Hispanic people, there is a lot of cynicism about the real purpose of these searches. Ressam was at a border crossing- on land.
The very nature of doing something illegal is that you may get caught, and pay the consequence. It is all about Risks/Benefits/Alternatives.
There are risks to being an illegal alien in the US. There are benefits, and there are alternatives. We employ CBP/INS to protect our borders from all illegal activity. We cannot ask them to “only” enforce certain laws. If you do not like the law, as a citizen, you have the right to go through a process to change it, or attempt to change it. If the majority agree, then it will change…Democracy.
Selective enforcement of laws is discriminatory to those who have followed the law, and to those who have been subject to law enforcement in other areas.