The Associated Press rewrote a Seattle Times story about ferry riders between San Juan Island and Anacortes getting tired of being bothered by border cops. Check it out below.
Searches anger some San Juan ferry riders
FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. (AP) — Some San Juan Island residents are
angry about Border Patrol inspections that began in February on the
ferry run to Anacortes.
Residents say the searchers and questioning are intrusive and
unnecessary on a domestic route. Federal agents say they’re looking
for terrorists trying to smuggle through the San Juan Islands.
Of the 43 people arrested since February, 38 have been from
Mexico.
Friday Harbor Mayor David Jones says there’s a surge of indignation
among people who are repeatedly questioned about their
citizenship.
Some residents have asked the American Civil Liberties Union for
advice. One ACLU lawyer, Matt Adams, says unless they have a
reasonable suspicion, immigration agents don’t have a right to
detain anyone already in the country.
After Mr. Bush and the Republican majority abandoned the Bill of Rights, one of those freedoms we were supposed to be defending, in this case protections from unreasonable searches and seizures, our next stop is tyranny, which this clearly is.
After the authority to conduct arbitrary mass round-ups, and mass detentions has been established, where do we go from there?
As our old chum Ronny Reagan was so fond of saying, “government programs once begun, take on a life of their own”.