'NO' TO SANCTUARY CITY STATUS FOR FORKS

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

Forks Mayor Nedra Reed has answered no to requests to declare Forks a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.
Reed discussed the issue with the Forks City Council at their regularly scheduled meeting held Monday evening Sept. 8.
Seattle, San Francisco and other cities have passed resolutions declaring the cities as sanctuary cities. Police departments in those cities often don’t turn in to federal authorities illegal aliens arrested for other crimes and otherwise provide support for the immigrants within their city limits.

She said “there is nothing in the constitution” regarding the protection of undocumented workers. Reed said creating such a sanctuary in Forks would violate federal laws.

First-time offenders caught in the United States illegally are charged with a misdemeanor, she said, while returnees face felony federal charges, she said.

“This is the law, and we will continue to obey the law,” Reed told the council.

Reed also explained the role of the Forks Police Department in recent arrests of alleged illegal immigrants in Forks by federal agents using arrest warrants. She said Forks officers serve as back-up to agents from the Border Patrol and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency who make arrests within Forks’ city limits.

A rally protesting the arrests of illegal immigrants on the Olympic Peninsula is being promoted in Forks through the distribution of handbills. A similar protest was held at the Forks Transit Center in August. West End residents are being invited to take part in the protest planned for the Federal Building at First and Oak streets in Port Angeles at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.

The handbills claim racial profiling is going on at Border Patrol checkpoints set up north of Forks and elsewhere on the Olympic Peninsula.

Council notes
• The Army Corps of Engineers was given permission to enter the Quillayute Airport for additional, ongoing well checks.
• Forks Police Chief Mike Powell requested approval of a temporary contract with PenCom. Police calls, fire and medical emergency calls are to be routed to the Port Angeles’ PenCom dispatch center for three months. PenCom is the communications wing of the Port Angeles Police Department, and is the place where 9-1-1 calls made in Clallam County are routed through. Normally, Forks police calls, as well as fire and medical emergency calls, are sent through to the Forks Police Department dispatchers.

Posted Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008