The Associated Press and Peninsula Daily News
SEATTLE — An American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit over traffic stops by U.S. Border Patrol agents on the North Olympic Peninsula is moving forward.
Federal District Court Judge Benjamin Settle denied Monday a motion by the government to dismiss the lawsuit.
In April, the ACLU and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project sued the Border Patrol and sought to bar agents from making traffic stops, saying people are being pulled over and questioned for the way they look and without reasonable suspicion.
Tensions
The lawsuit stems from tensions between immigrants and the expanded presence of Border Patrol agents on the Peninsula, which shares no land border with Canada.
The ACLU and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed the lawsuit on behalf of three Peninsula residents who have been stopped by Border Patrol agents.
Jose Sanchez and Ismael Ramos Contreras of Forks, as well as Ernest Grimes of Neah Bay, are the complainants in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal District Court in Seattle.
Border Patrol spokesman Richard Sinks said at the time that U.S. Customs and Border Protection “strictly prohibits” profiling on the basis of race or religion.
Pleased by ruling
“We are pleased that the federal judge has rejected the government’s efforts to prevent this case from moving forward,” said Matt Adams, legal director of Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, in a statement.
“Now plaintiffs will be able to have their day in court to demonstrate that action is needed to prevent them and others from being stopped and interrogated by the U.S. Border Patrol in violation of their constitutional rights.”
Added ACLU-Washington legal director Sarah Dunne: “The residents in this suit worry that they could be stopped and questioned without reason any time they drive or are passengers in cars.”
“People in America should not be stopped by law enforcement because of their appearance and ethnicity,” Dunne added.
