border patrol
A spokesman for the Border Patrol rejects claims Latinos are being questioned about their immigrant status and that people stopped for traffic violations are being deported. (AP Photo)

Report claims immigrants fearful in WA border town

BY Tim Haeck  on April 18, 2012 @ 8:44 am (Updated: 10:22 am - 4/18/12 )

A new report claims stepped up border protection is creating an atmosphere of fear and mistrust among the immigrant community of Lynden, Wash.

The 48-page report claims Latinos are being questioned about their immigrant status and that people stopped for traffic violations are being deported.

A spokesman for the Border Patrol rejects those claims, saying the agency uses facts and federal guidelines to enforce the law, not profiling based on race or religion.

The report comes from the immigrant rights group OneAmerica and the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. It says the information comes from interviews and public testimony in the border town.

OneAmerica began exploring what it calls a growing number of complaints from immigrants living in counties along the state's northern border.

Some people in Lynden reject the findings. The head of a berry farmer's group says workers are not being deported, as feared.

Tim Haeck, KIRO Radio Reporter
Tim Haeck is a news reporter with KIRO Radio. While Tim is one of our go-to, no-nonsense reporters, he also has a sensationally dry sense of humor and it will surprise some to learn he is a weekend warrior.
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Comments (25)


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  • ron prevost wrote...
    On WHICH US border ???????
    April 18, 2012 9:48 am
    Now, get me right. While maybe 75% of undocumented people in this country are Latino of some nature, 25% are not. And out good neighbor to the north has sent us a goodly number to work without documentation. ........... New, get me right, again. Lynden is on, what, the CANADIAN border ? ............ Oh, well. It's just to hard to spot what a Canadian illegal looks like.
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  • pacnwstrong wrote...
    Border Patrol should protect border, not profile
    April 18, 2012 10:06 am
    Why is Border Patrol answering 911 emergency calls? No wonder immigrants and people of color are fearful. That's creepy. I don't feel any safer, because Border Patrol is deporting people with a broken tail light. Instead of, you know, protecting the border.
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  • Snout wrote...
    "Deporting people with a broken tail light?"
    April 18, 2012 10:09 am
    Gee, we arrest people who have warrants when they are stopped for a mere broken tail light. Should we stop doing that as well?
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  • worhtalook wrote...
    broken tail light
    April 18, 2012 10:24 am
    is an infraction and unsafe..stopped to only inform that the tail light is out..if you are stopped and can't even speak English then that should be suspect..I was stopped in Eatonville a few weeks ago for a head light out..they did a back ground check on me, as I wou9ld expect them to..and since I had nothing to fear, I was just asked to please get it repaired..I was very thankful they told me as I had no idea it was out..but I was also not fearful either..because I knew I had nothing to fear and am thanlful that they were there to serve and protect!
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  • CH wrote...
    The head of a berry farmer's group says workers are not being deported, as feared . . . .
    April 18, 2012 10:10 am
    who will pick the berries at $2.00 a day? Not me! Last time I looked this is not China.
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  • Don of the dead wrote...
    I for one support
    April 18, 2012 10:17 am
    The Border Patrol 100%..And yes there are Mexican immigrants all over our country. many are very bad people and few are very good people. Either way go get your green card and work here legally.
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  • worhtalook wrote...
    and the last time I checked
    April 18, 2012 10:20 am
    NO ONE is paid a mere $2 an day..if you have to dstort the truth to get try to prove a point then you are pathetic. If people are where they should not be..if they have not done anything illegal or threatening then they have nothing to fear..Illetgals are just that..ILLEGAL..Canadians may come to our Country. You don't hear of MILLIONS of them sneaking and lieing get here and then continue to lie and sneak around and then virtually steal from us and refuse to speak the language here, and THEN have the nerve to say they are the victims, and are ENTITLED! WE..the honest tax paying, US CITIZENS are the true victims..Why is it that the LAw enforcement people are accused of profiling whern they are paid to protect and follow the law? IF you are illegally doing something then you deserve to be accountable for that..why is that so wrong to you? You also forget that most farmers provide homes for these illegals..and the illegals keep on having babies..at OUR expense and cry that they are not paid enough? How much was your last Hospital bill? Unless you are one of the entitlement group who pay NOTHING..then you know how much it cost..lots! But these illegals pay NOTHING!! NOTHING!!
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  • pacnwstrong wrote...
    Citizens profiled too
    April 18, 2012 10:48 am
    This us vs. them argument doesn't fly. Citizens and legal residents who have lived here for all or most of their lives are being profiled and questioned for papers. Sometimes searched, often mistrusted as a first instinct. We are tax payers, too, where are our rights? Plus, the Constitution provides equal protection under the law to all residents. Should we scrap that, too? And you're wrong about undocumented immigrants who pay sales tax, very often income tax, and contribute to our economy in fundamental ways.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    If they're in this country legally...
    April 18, 2012 10:17 am
    ...what do they have to worry about?
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  • pacnwstrong wrote...
    a lot
    April 18, 2012 10:51 am
    having their rights violated, that's what - profiling, harassment, abuse, and on and on. you see, this happens when you look Latino, when you're Sikh and wear a turban, when you speak with an accent. or after you've put in a season of hard work on a farm and then, conveniently when the season is over, there is Border Patrol waiting in the parking lot to deport you. thanks for contributing to our state's economy and doing work no citizen wants to do, now we're kicking you out! disgusting.
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  • fourstringfuror wrote...
    It says the information comes from interviews and public testimony in the border town.
    April 18, 2012 10:40 am
    So, hearsay. Rumors. Not actual fact.
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  • pacnwstrong wrote...
    testimony from real people is not rumor
    April 18, 2012 10:51 am
    especially when it's echoed again and again across the state - and across the country (Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Maine...) just b/c you don't like it, doesn't make it untrue.
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    sure, that's right...
    April 18, 2012 12:13 pm
    but, someone getting pulled over for a traffic violation who doesn't have any form of legal id is going to have problems, US resident, or not. AND, in Washington, everyone can get a legal license, so there's no excuse.
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  • notmygov1 wrote...
    Good
    April 18, 2012 11:06 am
    Good we need to get them out of our state what part of illegal do you not understand........
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    um, no...
    April 18, 2012 11:45 am
    if you are pulled over for a TRAFFIC VIOLATION and they ask for a license or some kind of documentation, there should be no big to do. if you never broke the law at all, you'll be fine. if you're a legal resident (all they have to do is get a license-in Washington they don't even need proof of citizenship) and you violated traffic law, you'll get a fine. if your an undocumented immigrant, yeah, you'll have more to worry about. i don't see the problem here. follow the rules. simple. you don't even have to be a legal resident of this country to get a pass. why such outcry? why does Washington need to go out of it's way even more?
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  • HLC wrote...
    If you are here illegally.
    April 18, 2012 11:58 am
    You are not a resident. You are a criminal that is not in custody yet. As far as CH's comment about $2.00 a day. A farm worker makes more than you do on welfare unless you have a bunch of kids.
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  • Derrol_o wrote...
    immigrants: legal or illegal?
    April 18, 2012 12:28 pm
    "OneAmerica began exploring what it calls a growing number of complaints from immigrants living in counties along the state's northern border" Is that referring to legal immigrants or illegal immigrants? And is OneAmerica interested in protecting the rights of legal immigrants or promoting the perceived rights of illegal immigrants or both?
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