U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints, such as one near the Hood Canal Bridge on Friday and another about six months ago near Forks, are about to become more common on the North Olympic Peninsula, said an agent.
A checkpoint was set up Friday morning on state Highway 104 one mile west of the Hood Canal Bridge.
“Today we implemented a checkpoint there between approximately 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Michael Bermudez Bermudez said on Friday.
“These types of check points have proven to be successful in the past, and we are starting to utilize more checkpoints.
“We are expecting to begin using them frequently in and around that area, and in places in Jefferson and Clallam counties.”
He declined to say where or when the checkpoints would be.
Border Patrol Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Guiliano said checkpoints on U.S. Highway 101 are planned north of Forks and south of Discovery Bay between now and mid-September.
Guiliano said agents detained six illegal immigrants at a checkpoint eight miles north of Forks about six months ago eight miles north of Forks.
In March 2007, agents detained seven people at a checkpoint near Forks.
Bermudez said the temporary checkpoints’ primary objectives are to apprehend terrorists and illegal immigrants.
They also are used in conjunction with local law enforcement to arrest felons, seize drugs and weapons and to deter illegal activity, he added.
At Friday’s checkpoint near the bridge, seven illegal immigrants and one person with a felony warrant were taken into custody, and $2,500 worth of illegally harvested salal was confiscated, Bermudez said.
“Border Patrol checkpoints are a critical tool to protect against illegal activity,” he said.
“We are going to continue to put them in areas where people have to pass through from point A to point B.”
