Kootenai County authorities talk 'illegal immigration'

POST FALLS — Authorities dispelled rumors and shared facts about illegal immigration in Kootenai County during a town hall discussion Thursday night.

About 100 people gathered at Post Falls American Legion Post 143, which featured Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen and Lloyd Easterling, chief patrol agent of the Spokane sector for U.S. Border Patrol.

Kootenai County Commissioner Bruce Mattare, who emceed the town hall, said surveys filled out by attendees revealed they were chiefly concerned about illegal immigration, followed by gun rights, crime, “social issues” and traffic.

“Illegal immigration is the No. 1 issue and it’s concerning,” Mattare said. “You turn on the news every night and it’s another story.”

But Easterling said relatively few people cross the Canadian border into the Northwest. Most crossings occur at the southern border.

“People are trying to get in the easiest way they can,” he said. “This is a really rugged area. Northern Idaho, all through British Columbia, it’s really tough. We’ve had people who we’ve found frozen out there.”

Because Border Patrol’s resources are limited, Easterling said agents must prioritize certain cases of suspected illegal immigration over others.

“What we are looking for are criminal aliens,” he said. “We are fully aware there are people out there who are painting homes, who are building cabinets, who may have done nothing illegal other than enter the United States.”

To better address increasing reports from the public about suspected illegal immigration, Easterling said Border Patrol will soon station two agents in Kellogg.

“Our ability to respond from Spokane is tough,” he said. “It’s a start.”

Norris said he opposes illegal immigration.

“I do believe that if somebody is here illegally, I should be able to pick them up and take them and I believe our Border Patrol should remove them,” Norris said. “However, there is something called the United States Constitution.”

The Fourth Amendment protects all people in the United States from unreasonable search and seizure, regardless of their immigration status.

Mortensen said police should only make “consensual contact” with people or otherwise make contact when they have probable cause related to criminal activity.

“If an officer approaches somebody and treats them a certain way because of their race or their nationality, they’re opening themselves up to a lawsuit,” he said. “That’s the last thing anybody wants.”

Rumors of white buses transporting people from the southern border to North Idaho appear to be false, Norris said.

The sheriff said a “large employer” in Kootenai County uses white transport vans and employs immigrants. But in conversation with the employees, Norris said he confirmed they all carried H-1BI visas, which provide for the temporary employment of workers in specialty occupations from Chile and Singapore.

“Those people are here legally,” he said.

Easterling said the public may sometimes see Border Patrol agents letting people out of white vans. These are people who may have entered the country illegally but have been released from custody, he said.

“They will be given paperwork that allows them due process, so they have some sort of status,” he said. “They’re not necessarily illegal at that point because they’re awaiting due process to go before the court.”

Border Patrol agents don’t drop people off on the side of the road, Easterling said. Instead, they release people somewhere they can get a meal, make a phone call and have access to transportation, such as a bus terminal.

“We always want to make sure the folks we come in contact with, at a bare minimum, are released in a place where they’re safe,” Easterling said. “That’s what we owe to anyone.”