Plainclothes agent working Anacortes ferry stop

SEATTLE – A Washington state ferry worker has denounced the Border Patrol for using a plainclothes agent to monitor activity at the Anacortes ferry terminal, the same location where the federal agency has been widely criticized for conducting security spot-checks of domestic ferry runs.

John Norby, who works at the terminal directing traffic, said a plainclothes Border Patrol officer approached him in April and asked him if he’d be interested in sharing “intelligence.”

“This is a federal police force asking civilians to inform on civilians,” Norby said this week.

But Border Patrol officials say having a plainclothes officer patrolling the terminal is standard procedure, part of their efforts to secure the terminal, and nothing out of the ordinary for a law enforcement agency.

In late February, the Border Patrol started conducting unannounced ferry security checks of domestic ferry runs arriving in Anacortes from the nearby San Juan Islands, drawing ire from local government and sharp reactions from pro-immigrant and civil liberties groups.

The spot checks have also struck fear among the Hispanic community on the islands, and many have not ventured out of the islands for months.

As of late May, the spot-checks have produced 49 arrests – and 48 of those arrested were Latin American immigrants, according to Border Patrol figures. The people were arrested for being in the United States illegally and now face deportation.

For Norby, those statistics and the plainclothes agent – who is Hispanic – indicate the Border Patrol is targeting a selected group of people. He said the plainclothes agent is essentially spying on ferry passengers – and approaching state workers to do the same.

But the Border Patrol has denied Norby’s claim that the agency is trying to infiltrate the Hispanic community.

“That would be inaccurate,” said Joe Giuliano, deputy chief patrol agent. The reason the plainclothes agent is working at the terminal “is that he’s the best person I could find to do that job – on the intelligence section, he speaks excellent Spanish, he’s truly bilingual. The fact that he’s (Hispanic) is purely coincidental.”

The agent’s presence at the terminal is no secret, Giuliano said, because he identifies himself to state workers as a Border Patrol agent, as he did when he talked to Norby.

So far, the agent has not boarded a ferry sailing, but Giuliano said he would not rule that out.

Karol Brown, a lawyer who works for Hate Free Zone, a Seattle-based immigrant advocate organization, said immigration enforcement agencies have been known for using Spanish-speaking undercover officers to arrest immigrants.

“Most people, if they’re just asked where they’re from, especially in your native language, they just say where they’re from,” Brown said.

In those cases, illegal immigrants drop their guard and tell officers enough information to make an arrest, Brown said.

The heightened enforcement “doesn’t add to our security and there is some real civil liberties concern,” Brown said. “That’s not the type of country I want to live in, where people live in fear.”

The Washington state ferry system is required by federal mandate to cooperate with federal agencies on security matters, part of maintaining high security standards for the ferries, spokeswoman Marta Coursey said.

She added that employees such as Norby are free to make the choice to not cooperate with a federal agency.

“We absolutely will not compromise on safety and security issues,” Coursey said.