Justification for 50 agent US Border Patrol station at Port Angeles? FOIA denied!

03-04-2011 • http://tinyurl.com/69hewnf

March 4th, the PDN reports: The Border Patrol has refused to release specific data on the number of arrests made by the Port Angeles station, Blaine Sector, in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. The agency refused a Peninsula Daily News Freedom of Information Act request for the information and on Jan. 28 denied a subsequent appeal. “Disclosure of the arrest statistics from the Port Angeles station would provide those interested in crossing our borders illegally with information that could aid their strategic targeting of potentially vulnerable areas along the border,” said Shari Suzuki, chief of the FOIA Appeals, Policy and Litigation Branch. “Releasing this information could frustrate the agency’s ability to enforce the U.S. border laws by providing a literal road map to those seeking to avoid their detention.” Federally mandated news blackouts & rejected FOIA requests- odd way to establish justification for a 50 agent USBP station in an area that shares no land border wi