Washington State Democrats has jumped on board with the Democratic parties of Jefferson and Clallam counties in passing a resolution opposing increased presence of Border Patrol agents in the state.
Matt Sircely, Jefferson County Democrats chairman, said a resolution presented by the Jefferson County Democrats expressing opposition to increased Border Patrol presence statewide passed unanimously when it was presented to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee in Olympia on April 25.
The Clallam County Democratic Party supported the resolution, chairman John Marrs said.
Said Sircely: “This was a major goal. I’d say we pretty much have met that goal now.
“This really clarifies that our position is not controversial and is accepted within the Democratic Party in the state of Washington.
“I am very pleased they adopted something we created locally.”
In 2008, Border Patrol agents operated roadblocks on U.S. Highway 101 near Forks and state Highway 104 near the Hood Canal Bridge. At the checkpoints, the agents stopped drivers and asked about citizenship.
The last such checkpoint on the Peninsula was on Sept. 9, 2008, but agents also board privately owned Port Angeles-based Olympic Bus Lines, primarily at the Discovery Bay stop on Highway 101, to ask the same question.
As part of a build-up of immigration law enforcement on the country’s northern border, Border Patrol agents based in Port Angeles have increased from four to 24 during the last two years and the federal Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to build a facility with a short-term detention area in Port Angeles.
Grass-roots effort
Sircely said the movement was a grass-roots effort that he targeted as a main goal when he took over as party chairman in 2008.
The Jefferson County Democrats passed a resolution opposing the federal agency’s presence on the North Olympic Peninsula in February. The Clallam County Democratic Central Committee passed a similar resolution in March.
Sircely said the local resolutions were slightly revised in their wording and presented as one document to the state party.
“The intent remained the same,” he said.
The resolution reads: “We, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, call for a suspension of expanded Border Patrol activities away from the border until their utility, legality and constitutionality have been determined by the U.S. Congress and courts.”
Marrs said the resolution passed without argument.
“William Miller and Teri Nomura from Port Townsend and I were prepared to make remarks regarding the Border Patrol resolution,” Marrs said in an e-mail, “but the Resolutions Committee on Friday recommended a “do pass” and the resolution was adopted Saturday without any debate.”
The resolution also requests a review of the practices of the agency and requests that elected federal officials look at reforming approaches to securing the state’s borders.
While the resolution is non-binding, Sirceley said he believes the act is much more than posturing.
“The significance is that this supports our elected leaders who have taken a stand or will take a stand,” he said.
Support
“It provides them with a sense of support from the party and gives them some added strength.”
Marrs said he agreed with the document’s significance.
“It adds strength to the message we’ve been sending to our representatives and through them, the message to [Rep. Norm] Dicks and [Department Homeland Security Secretary Janet] Napolitano.”
“Now it’s not just two counties. It’s the whole state.”
In a Feb. 9 letter to Napolitano, Sixth District Congressman Dicks, D-Belfair, protested the checkpoints and asked for clarification on their use.
In the last few months, several people have protested along the highways of the North Olympic Peninsula — both against and in favor of Border Patrol.
Clallam resolution
The state committee also adopted without debate a resolution presented by the Clallam County Democratic Central Committee urging Congress “to enact a law that declares payments made on credit card accounts shall apply first to all current interest accrued,” rather than allow the credit companies to apply payments to only “the lowest interest-bearing account.”
In addition to Sicely, Miller, Nomura and Marrs, Clallam State Committeeman Earl Archer of Sequim and 24th Legislative District Committeeman Bill Kildall of Port Angeles also participated, Marrs said.
Marrs served as proxy for State Committeewoman Julie Johnson of Neah Bay.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
