An Open Letter to the Congressional representatives serving Eastern Washington
Honorable Doc Hastings
Honorable Cathy McMorris Rogers
Re: Reopening Interior Border Patrol Stations in the Spokane Sector of the United States Border Patrol
As a Border Patrol Agent who worked at the interior Border Patrol Station of Pasco, Washington for more than six years and supervised operations there another six, I truly believe that the currently closed interior Border Patrol Stations of Pasco and Wenatchee should be reopened and staffed with agents.
Areas from Spokane to Yakima, from Pullman to Moses Lake are inundated with aliens illegally within the United States. On the fringes of this large population of undocumented immigrants, the criminal element is able to flourish.
Large quantities of narcotics are being transported from Mexico to Eastern Washington for distribution. The traffickers and dealers are often illegally within the United States. The source of these smuggled narcotics is the Mexican Drug Cartels which should send a collective shiver down all of our spines.
As recently as January 19th, 2012, the Yakima Herald Republic published an article about a large methamphetamines bust in the Sunnyside and Grandview areas. A small comment on the bottom of the story says that five of six arrested subjects are illegally within the United States.
Much of the narcotic crime in Eastern Washington is committed by illegal aliens. This area is virtually out of control for local law enforcement and much of the problem stems from the criminal element tied to the illegal alien population.
The United States Border Patrol in the Spokane Sector has grown tremendously from 34 agents in 2000 to 254 in 2010, yet their total apprehensions have dropped drastically.
ICE staffing for Eastern Washington has not kept up with the workload plus ICE Special Agents are tasked with numerous types of investigations other than those involving criminal aliens, ranging from child pornography to Customs violations.
The Spokane Sector could readily shift assets to reopen these stations with several agents assigned to each. This would have only a minimal effect on the Border Patrol’s overall objective of securing the northern border.
The Border Patrol Agents assigned to the Pasco and Wenatchee stations have historically provided a very visible law enforcement presence curbing illegal immigration and the associated criminal activities. Border Patrol Agents are able to concentrate on criminal activities that ICE is unable to handle.
ICE Special Agents are equivalent to detectives in large police departments while the Border Patrol Agents assigned to interior stations are equivalent to “beat cops”. Imagine a large area being “policed” by only detectives; no police department would even consider this.
Although ICE is currently tasked with illegal immigration activity away from the border, a symbiotic relationship between the Border Patrol and ICE has existed in the past and should be rekindled.
I was assigned to the Pasco Office when, in 1999, Washington State Trooper James Saunders was murdered by an alien illegally within the United States. The United States Border Patrol was sued by his widow as we were unable to adequately enforce the laws. Yet, only a few years later, management of the Border Patrol allowed the interior stations to close. This has made much of Eastern Washington less safe and sadly many people have left the area because of the increasing crime.
The Pasco Border Patrol Station had previously been scheduled to close in the 1990s but Congressman Hastings intervened allowing it to remain open.
Please intervene again and push for the staffing and reopening of these offices. This small step can be taken immediately and will greatly improve the safety of the residents of the communities you represent and make Eastern Washington the oasis it once was.
Robert Wilson
Supervisory Border Patrol Agent(Retired)
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