Immigrant arrests prompt protest in Sequim

SEQUIM — The arrests of two Sequim men by the Border Patrol sparked a small protest at the intersection of Sequim’s busiest intersection on Saturday.

Jose Antonio Hernandez, better known as Tony Hernandez, and Daniel Rodriguez were detained Friday morning and taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Tacoma, confirmed Michael Bermudez, Border Patrol spokesman, on Saturday.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, four demonstrators stood on the corner of Washington Street and Sequim Avenue holding signs that said “Stop Homeland Security fear tactics” and bring “Tony & Daniel home.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Hernandez and Rodriguez work for OJ’s Landscaping and were driving in a work truck Friday morning on Sequim Avenue not far from Sequim High School when they were stopped by Border Patrol agents, said Mario Gonzales on Saturday, who notified protest organizer Lois Danks of the detentions.

Gonzales, who is the uncle of the owner of the landscaping company, knows both men and played soccer and basketball with Rodriguez, he said from his Sequim home.

Bermudez said the two men were not stopped at a checkpoint.

Last summer, agents operated roadblocks north of Forks and near the Hood Canal Bridge to check identification.

Agents have been reported stopping Olympic bus line buses.

Gonzales said that Hernandez, 28, is a legal resident, but was arrested because he didn’t have his alien registration — or “green” — card with him, and therefore could not prove his status.

Rodriguez, 18, is not a legal resident, he said.

Bermudez didn’t have the details of the two arrests on Saturday.

He said that a person holding a green card won’t be arrested unless there has been a violation of legal status.

“If he did have a green card, he was arrested because he violated his status,” he said.

Court date

Gonzales said Hernandez, who has a wife and four-year-old son in Sequim, has an immigration court date in Tacoma on Monday to prove his residence status.

The arrests, particularly the detention of Hernandez, exacerbates the apprehension of Hispanic immigrants in Sequim, said Gonzales, who has been a U.S. citizen for nearly nine years.

“We are all on the same page,” Gonzales said.

“If they detain me, I don’t really have nothing to prove that I am a U.S. citizen.

“It’s tough for us to prove we are U.S. citizens unless we carry a passport everywhere we go.”

Danks, coordinator of the Stop the Checkpoints Committee, which held Saturday’s protest, said Hernandez was at the group’s meeting earlier this month. The group formed in September.

Hernandez told the group that he had been stopped by the Border Patrol while getting lunch.

Danks said it is her understanding that Hernandez was carrying his green card during that incident.

Hernandez wasn’t the only Hispanic immigrant at the meeting concerned about the Border Patrol, Danks said.

Increase in contacts

“They came because they said the harassment of immigrants had been on an abrupt increase in Sequim in the last two weeks,” she said, “that people had been stopped, held at gunpoint when their ID was checked.”

Danks was referring to an incident that Gonzales said involved his brother-in-law, who is a U.S. citizen, nearly three weeks ago.

Gonzales said his brother-in-law was among a group of people helping a friend move in Sequim. He said that Border Patrol agents had them lie on the ground at gunpoint while their identification was checked.

A few of the people there were arrested on immigration charges, but his brother-in-law was not one of them, he said.

Bermudez couldn’t confirm if that incident occurred.

He added that, if guns were drawn, he is confident that the agents complied with the Border Patrol’s use of force policy.

“Border Patrol agents wouldn’t just draw their guns for no reason,” he said.

“In order for us to draw our weapons, the agent has to feel that their life, their partners’ life, or a third party member is being threatened with lethal or egregious bodily harm.”

Bermudez said the agents review the use of force policy four times a year.

Gonzales said the incident has left his brother-in-law troubled.

“Every time we talk about immigration, he gets all shaky,” he said.

“Having someone pointing a gun at you is going to scare you.”

Border Patrol activity has been on the rise on the North Olympic Peninsula, and along the rest of the northern border of the United States.

The number of agents based in Port Angeles increased from four to 24 in two years as part of an increase in personnel across the U.S.-Canadian border mandated by former President George W. Bush.

The federal Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to build a facility, with a short-term detention area, in Port Angeles later this year.

The Border Patrol’s mission, Bermudez has said, is to maintain “operational control of our nation’s borders.”

That includes apprehending terrorists, deterring illegal entrance into the United States, stopping smugglers of drugs and people, developing smart border technology and cutting crime in border communities.

________

Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Road closed near Port Angeles structure fire

The Port Angeles Fire Department is working to contain… Continue reading

Rikki Rodger, left, holds a foam float, and Mark Stevenson and Sara Ybarra Lopez drop off 9.2 pounds of trash and debris they collected at Kai Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend during the Port Townsend Marine Science Center Earth Day Beach Cleanup event Saturday at Fort Worden State Park. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Beach cleanup

Rikki Rodger, left, holds a foam float, and Mark Stevenson and Sara… Continue reading

Emily Randall.
Randall reflects on first 100 days

Public engagement cited as top priority

Sequim company manufactures slings for its worldwide market

Heavy-duty rigging includes windmills, construction sites

Legislature hearing wide range of bills

Property tax, housing could impact Peninsula

Jefferson County adjusts budget appropriations

Money for parks, coroner and substance abuse treatment in jail

Motorcycle rider airlifted to Seattle hospital

A Sequim man was airlifted to a Seattle hospital after… Continue reading

Charter Review town hall committee to meet Wednesday

The Clallam County Charter Review Commission Town Hall Committee… Continue reading

Port Angeles High School jazz band second at Lionel Hampton festival

The Port Angeles High School jazz band placed second… Continue reading

This excited toddler is focused on his next prize and misses the ones right in front of him during the 95th annual Port Townsend Elks Club Easter Egg Hunt at Chetzemoka Park on Sunday. Volunteers hid more than 1,500 plastic eggs around the park with some redeemable for prizes. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
On the hunt

This excited toddler is focused on his next prize and misses the… Continue reading

Policy to opt out of meters updated

Clallam PUD to install digital instead of analog

Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Scott Burgett and Linda Kahananui are members of Dark Sky International who are working to spread awareness about how to be mindful with artificial lighting at night.
Scott Burgett and Linda Kahananui are members of Dark Sky International who are working to spread awareness about how to be mindful with artificial lighting at night. (Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
International Dark Sky Week to be celebrated

Peninsula residents raise awareness of artificial light pollution