FORKS — The state Commission on Hispanic Affairs will visit this West End city tonight for a panel discussion on racial profiling of Latinos and the relationship that North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement agencies have with the U.S. Border Patrol.
The meeting of the 11-member commission, which does not include anyone from Clallam or Jefferson counties, will be from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Forks Community Center, 91 Maple Ave.
According to the agenda, panelists are Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brian King, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office West End Deputy Derek Allen, Susan Trettevick of the state Department of Natural Resources and Kenia Rios of the state Human Rights Commission.
A Border Patrol representative was not invited to sit on the panel, Border Patrol spokesman Jeffrey Jones said Thursday afternoon.
Commission Chairwoman Lillian Ortiz-Self, who did not return calls for comment Thursday morning and early afternoon, said last week that the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Air and Marine — the federal agencies that investigate immigration violations and enforce related laws — would not be invited.
Ortiz-Self said in a May 22 interview that even Latinos who are legally in the U.S. “will be too scared to show up” if the federal agencies are present.
The commission “gets lots of calls on racial profiling” and is holding its meeting in Forks because of those concerns, she said.
Jones said the Border Patrol does not use racial profiling.
Lesley Hoare of the Forks Human Rights Group said the distrust among Latinos toward the Border Patrol has trickled down to distrust of law enforcement agencies on the North Olympic Peninsula that contact the Border Patrol for translation assistance or help with emergency calls.
Because those encounters sometimes end up with the Border Patrol questioning or arresting Latinos over immigration issues unrelated to the call for assistance, Latinos overall are becoming increasingly afraid to call law enforcement to report crimes, Hoare said.
The Forks Human Rights Group monitors Border Patrol activity on the West End, where many Latinos work in the forest products industry, by filming and documenting traffic stops.
“There’s a high level of distrust, of being afraid to call local law enforcement because of what might come after it,” Hoare said Thursday.
The level of distrust toward local law enforcement is “strong,” Hoare said.
“It wasn’t always like that,” she said.
“People used to feel they could call the police. That feeling is not there anymore, so we’re trying to move back to what used to be.”
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said Border Patrol agents have radios that monitor the frequencies of all North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement agencies and can respond on their own to anything they hear.
“It’s an officer safety issue,” Benedict said Thursday.
Benedict’s office has not requested translation assistance in the Forks area for “a year or two,” he said in an earlier interview.
The number of Border Patrol agents who canvass Clallam and Jefferson counties has jumped from four in 2006 to 42 as of February.
The Commission on Hispanic Affairs also will hold its regular meeting tonight.
It meets throughout the state of Washington to discuss concerns among Latino residents.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
