The North Olympic Peninsula’s three major local law enforcement agencies — the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Port Angeles Police Department — differ when it comes to seeking translation assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict and Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez have similar agreements with the Border Patrol that bar the agency from asking about immigration status until after a person is arrested.
Both were interviewed separately Monday following a May 1 federal civil rights complaint filed by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project that focuses on Border Patrol translation assistance.
Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher said Monday that he has no such arrangement with the Border Patrol — and does not want one.
“I consider the Border Patrol to be a legitimate agency with a legitimate law enforcement function,” Gallagher said.
“They are able to provide us with resources I have need of. I have no intention in stopping accessing those resources when we need them to address any sort of crime issue.”
The Border Patrol Blaine Sector office referred questions related to the complaint and Benedict’s and Hernandez’s agreement to the federal Department of Homeland Security, which did not respond Monday to an email seeking more information.
In its complaint to Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Immigrant Rights Project said Border Patrol translation assistance provided to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies “violates both the substance and spirit of civil rights protection.”
Benedict said he does not allow the Border Patrol to investigate someone for an immigration violation while agents are providing translation assistance unless that assistance is being given to someone who has already been arrested by deputies.
If Border Patrol agents exceeded those boundaries, “I would have a hard time working with [the Border Patrol],” Benedict said.
Hernandez, whose deputies also use mobile interpretation capabilities provided by Monterey, Calif.-based Language Line Services, said in most cases the Border Patrol would not be allowed to question a suspect until after the person is being processed for incarceration.
“There might be a situation in the field where immigration status might be relevant at the time of the investigation,” Hernandez said.
“Our main mission is not immigration status because we not federal enforcement officers,” he added.
Port Townsend Police Chief Conner Daily said Monday that his officers also use Language Line Services, and that several Spanish-speaking Port Townsend residents volunteer as interpreters.
Daily said he follows the same guidelines as Hernandez.
Benedict said he confirmed the agreement Monday with Blaine Sector Chief John Bates.
“The agreement I have with the Border Patrol, which I made with the Blaine Sector three years ago when they first started ramping up, was that when we called for translation services, they were not there to do investigations or arrests for immigration,” Benedict said.
The Border Patrol contingent that patrols Clallam and Jefferson counties increased from four agents in 2006 to 36 in September 2011.
Benedict and Hernandez said a Spanish-speaking person may not report a crime if law enforcement allows the Border Patrol to question the person’s immigration status as part of translating the person’s account of events that led to the call for assistance.
“I’d rather give them a pass on that so they are not victims of a crime,” Benedict said.
“Neither the state constitution nor the [Revised Code of Washington] gives me the authority to enforce immigration laws.”
The six complainants in the complaint, identified only by their initials, include a Forks woman who was with Benjamin Roldan Salinas on May 14, 2010, when Salinas fled a U.S. Forest Service stop near Forks at which a Border Patrol agent was giving translation assistance.
Roldan Salinas’ body was found two weeks later in the Sol Duc River about 4 miles downstream from where he fled the stop.
Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon and Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickinson were not available for comment Monday morning.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
