PORT TOWNSEND — A policy for public service signs aboard Jefferson Transit buses goes before the Jefferson Transit Authority Board today.
The transit board, which last month faced Jefferson County Republican Party pickets over public service signs advising bus riders about their rights in the event that Border Patrol agents board a bus, will talk about the policy for the first time when it meets at 1:30 p.m. in the Port Townsend Fire Station Training Room and Lawrence and Harrison streets.
About 20 Jefferson County Republican Party supporters demonstrated before a Jefferson Transit Authority board meeting in April, demanding that their own signs asking for cooperation with Border Patrol agents be posted inside buses.
Both signs are now posted on Jefferson Transit buses.
The board, which rejected a moratorium on public service signs until a policy could be drafted, agreed to take up the matter at a later date.
Freedom of speech
Referring to the GOP’s concerns about their First Amendment rights being infringed upon if they did not get their signs posted inside the buses, Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan said, “There was really no threat to their free speech at all. You just have to make sure that everybody is treated fair.”
Sullivan chairs the transit board and proposed the moratorium.
The GOP signs state: “Please cooperate if a Border Patrol agency questions you on this bus. Agents are doing their job. If you are questioned, be courteous. If you are not a U.S. citizen, always carry your immigration papers and please show them. Cooperation is always better than confrontation.”
The American Civil Liberties Union-written signs posted before the GOP versions went up state:
• If you’re a U.S. citizen, you don’t have to prove it.
• If you’re not a U.S. citizen and are age 18 or older, you must show your immigration papers to federal agents.
• Everyone has the right to remain silent.
The sign, titled “Your Rights with Border Patrol Agents on this Bus,” advises riders they can contact ACLU at 206-624-2180 or www.aclu-wa.org.
The ACLU signs were a pilot program sponsored by the organization.
The transportation agency is not charging the ACLU for the space for the signs, one per bus.
Border Patrol officials have said they are interested in boarding buses that travel across county lines to leave the Olympic Peninsula by ferry or car, such as on U.S. Highways 101 or 104.
Border Patrol agents have not boarded public transit buses since checkpoints and other Border Patrol efforts to protect the U.S. border heightened on the North Olympic Peninsula since late last year.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
