Seattle lawsuit accuses border agents of illegal traffic stops

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle claims U.S.
border agents are making illegal stops based solely on the
driver’s appearance and ethnicity.

Matt Adams, attorney with the Northwest Immigrant
Rights Project says the agents don’t always have
reasonable suspicion to make the stops. “That is, they
don’t have a legal basis to stop someone, but they do it
anyway, presumably based on the color of the skin of the
occupants in the car,” said Adams.

Federal courts have instructed border agents to
keep records of every stop, according to Adams. “But what
we’ve seen is the border patrol isn’t doing this. The only
time they’re keeping records is when they find someone
whom they think they can deport,” he alleged.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed the lawsuit on
behalf of three peninsula residents who have been stopped
by Border Patrol agents. One of them is Ernest Grimes, a
prison guard at Clallam Bay Corrections Center and a part-
time police officer, who said he was pulled over in 2011.
The lawsuit says the agent approached Grimes, who is
black, with his hand on his weapon while yelling at him to
roll down his window.

The lawsuit alleges the agent provided no reason
for the traffic stop while he interrogated Grimes about
his immigration status. Grimes was wearing his guard
uniform at the time.

The other two men in the lawsuit are Latino U.S.
citizens.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Border Patrol
declined to comment on the legal action.

The lawsuit demands that the Border Patrol
document the reasons for every stop, and that all stops be
suspended until agents gets more training on what
constitutes reasonable suspicion.