SPOKANE, Wash. — An article from online news publication “The Intercept” is again drawing attention toward Border Patrol searches and arrests at the Spokane Intermodal Bus Station.
A Greyhound bus driver in Spokane told the article’s author, Amy Martyn, that “the whole wall thing” – referring to President Donald Trump’s building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico Border – really “beefed up” the practice of Border Patrol agents boarding buses and pulling passengers off for questioning in Spokane.
Mohanad Elshieky, a comedian from Portland, received national attention in January after Border Patrol agents at the Spokane bus station stopped him, asked for his papers and said they were fake when he presented his documents.
He has since filed an administrative complaint against U.S. Customs and Border Protection seeking $250,000 in damages.
The Spokane Intermodal Station is owned by the city, which rents the land to Greyhound and other bus companies. None of the buses that stop there are arriving from Canada, the article says.
In October 2018, the Spokane City Council passed an ordinance referenced in The Intercept’s article that declared certain city properties off-limits to immigration officers.
The ordinance was targeted at ending the controversial practice of agents frequently boarding Greyhound buses at the Spokane Intermodal Center and asking riders about their citizenship status.
Spokane Mayor David Condon and Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl later said they would not keep agents off the buses.
The Intercept’s article claims that Border Patrol agents have arrested 71 people at the Spokane bus station this year – more than twice as many as they did the previous year.
KREM reached out to Border Patrol spokesperson Bill Kingsford to confirm this statistic and other statements within the article.
Kingsford said Border Patrol apprehended 71 people at the bus depot from Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019.
Agents arrested 28 people in fiscal year 2018, 34 in fiscal year 2017 and 36 in fiscal year 2016, Kingsford said.
“The biggest reason for this increase is due to us re-opening the Spokane station in May of 2018,” he said.
The Intercept’s article also says that agents patrol the bus depot three to four times a week, which Kingsford confirmed. He says this, along with the higher number of arrests, are directly correlated to Border Patrol reopening its Spokane station after 10 years.
Before the change, agents would usually come to Spokane from the Colville station to conduct checks one to two times a week, depending on manpower. With a local station, agents are often able to conduct checks three to four times per week.
Kingsford said agents did not apprehend any smugglers or drug traffickers to date at the Intermodal Station. They have found narcotics in luggage and personal belongs, but nothing rising to the level of federal prosecution, and have typically turned these over to Spokane police or the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“We see Interstate 90 is a major East/West corridor with the potential for smugglers to use it to further their criminal activities,” Kingsford said. “As such, we look at the checks at the Intermodal not only as what we have seen to date with individuals being in the country illegally, but also as a deterrent to possible smuggling of any kind.”
Kingsford also provided KREM with a list of countries of those that were apprehended in Spokane during the past year:
Colombia, Congo, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Laos, Peru, Philippines, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, Togo, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen
Kingsford did not have the breakdown from each country.
City leaders react to increase in arrests
On Wednesday, Spokane city leaders reacted to the increase in arrests.
Breean Beggs, the incoming council president, has long argued that the checks are unconstitutional. He was the primary backer of the aforementioned city council ordinance.
"I don't really expect a different approach from this new administration, but the lawyers and the court should take care of it," he said, referring to ongoing lawsuits against Border Patrol.
In a statement, incoming mayor Nadine Woodward said, "I do intend to continue to allow [Border Patrol] to do their job at the city's Intermodal Center."
RELATED: Spokane area groups criticize Nadine Woodward for calling undocumented immigrants 'illegals'
That means there's not a lot the council can do to stop the practice, instead having to wait on court decisions.
"And the sad thing is we're losing tourist dollars, and people are living in fear and suffering in the meantime for the Border Patrol not following the constitution," Beggs said.
Immigration rights activists say they'll continue working to educate people on their rights during these checks. For instance, you don't actually have to talk to the agents.
"If you do have your immigration papers, it can help you along to just share those to verify your status if they ask for them, but you don't have to. And you can choose not to say anything at all," said Jim Dawson, with the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition. "You do have that right to remain silent."
You also don't have to consent to a search of yourself or your belongings, and you do have the right to record agents.