LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Editor:
The NEXUS Reign of Terror.
After a long day just before the closure of the NEXUS lane I pulled into the crossing. One of the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers looked at me kind of strangely and said, “It says here I am supposed to confiscate your card. I am going to pretend I didn’t see this. You better get this checked into.”
I drove through the crossing and it suddenly got real quiet in the car. My daughter said “Come on dad, don’t let this ruin our weekend.” I knew she was right but the fact remains if you lose your NEXUS card especially if you have to regularly cross the main border as well as well as the Point Roberts border your life can just ‘break.’ You can no longer accurately time your trips, so you are always too early or too late and one thing is sure you will be more pressed for time, to the point where you might just not have enough time to get done the things you need to get done.
I lived in a state of terror for the next week. I went to the border office and asked if there was any problem. One of the officers looked me up on a terminal and said that nothing seemed amiss.
The next weekend I had daughters and friends crossing and I figured that if the unthinkable was going to happen I would at least make it worthwhile. I dropped one daughter off in White Rock for her job and rolled back through the border at 4:30 Saturday, past the usual obscene line up of Canadians in ‘gas senial,’ into the NEXUS lane.
Sure enough I get sent inside and there goes my NEXUS card. The CBP were polite and I sensed a little embarrassed. They know the psychological devastation that goes with losing your NEXUS. Each one of them has been party to the begging and pleading that inevitably occurs when this happens. This time was a little different. No one knew what to say. The system had spoken and no one knew why.
We cling to our hopes. I hoped it was some sort of simple mistake. I somehow got through to the NEXUS office in Blaine the following Monday. Usually it just rings busy. They said that if I came into the office I could talk to a supervisor. So I drove through two borders to Blaine only to be informed that it was ‘all up to Williston now.’ Unfortunately Williston is not a person, it is a scenic town of 7,650 people in rural Vermont. It seems that all matters pertaining to NEXUS are now dealt with there. The local supervisors who used to do this no longer have any authority. The supervisor in Blaine (who was quite polite) gave me a sheet of paper with their address and said that I would probably be hearing from them.
I waited. Nothing came. After two weeks I picked up that sheet of paper that began “Although there is no formal appeals process,” it seems there is an ombudsman. I have written a letter. I hope to hear back.
Although this sounds like a bad chapter in an existentialist novel it is not. In reality I have been moved from the ‘trusted’ lane to the ‘un-trusted’ lane. The CBP whose job it is to sort out the trusted from the un-trusted have just made their own job a little harder. I am still the same person but I am now in the huge long line that is testament that the government cannot ‘protect’ the citizens of Point Roberts from forces outside our control. The government cannot protect us from the northern hordes that are descending on our sleepy hamlet. As the dollar goes to par and gas prices spiral, the hordes descend. Our government’s response to the citizens of Point Roberts:
Decrease (not increase) the personnel at the border.
Take away local jurisdiction for NEXUS.
The solution to this problem is simple. Someone, somewhere needs to get it across to the ‘person’ in charge that in terms of CBP, Point Roberts is unique. We are the only non-contiguous piece of the continental United States. You need to go through two international borders to go from Point Roberts, Washington to anywhere else in Washington. On top of that we are inundated with foreigners buying gas and picking up their eBay purchases. In Point Roberts, NEXUS is not a privilege, it is a necessity. While this may sound like an unfounded sense of entitlement it is not. If our government would assess the situation reasonably the answer is clear.
The government is not prepared to respond to the situation in Point Roberts by adding the necessary personnel to process the border traffic in a reasonable amount of time.
Consequently in fairness to the citizens of Point Roberts and in the interests of national security, an effective NEXUS lane is the only alternative. CBP cannot control the volume of Canadians but they can modify the rules to the NEXUS program at no cost and with no loss in security. NEXUS is a necessity to the citizens of Point Roberts.
The stark reality is that in this time of heightened security every effort should be made to take the load off the CBP officers so that they can do their job as effectively as possible. That means pre-screening as many people as possible. Any other strategy creates security problems.
Needlessly placing Point Roberts residents in the un-trusted lane makes the job of the CBP personnel more difficult. The time that they can spend screening non-Point Roberts residents is reduced. This results in a loss of security. In the interests of national security and in fairness to the citizens of Point Roberts, the government needs to re-think the Point Roberts NEXUS policy.
Patrick J. Capozzi
Point Roberts

The Editor:
An open letter to all voters and residents of Point Roberts:  
The temporarily named Point Roberts Provisional Council met March 7 at the community center.  It was proposed that this meeting focus on the goal(s) or mission(s) of a projected community council. Those attending discussed and reaffirmed that this council should be open to representation from as many organizations and individuals on the Point as wish to be represented. 
A “mission statement” was not hammered out at this meeting and there was general consensus that the purpose of any such “council” should be to focus on issues common to the community, take the lead in addressing concerns that cross organizational lines, and develop or refine strategies proposed. 
It was proposed that a Point Roberts community council be established: 1) to promote or represent the concerns and problems that cross organizational lines and to go beyond to county, state, federal or other levels as necessary with concurrence of ‘council’ representatives; 2) the responsibilities, priorities and actions of the ‘council’ will be responsive to the widest range of groups, organizations and individuals within Point Roberts.
We welcome and need your participation. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at the community center. This open letter is submitted by those who participated in the March Provisional Council meeting and is addressed to all Point residents and all organizations in the community.
Campbell McClusky and Henry
Rosenthal
Point Roberts

Letters Policy
The All Point Bulletin welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 450 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality and good taste.
A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis.
Thank You letters should be limited to ten names.
Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please send your letter to: P.O. Box 1451, Point Roberts, WA 98281
or fax (360) 945-1613.
E-mail:editor@allpointbulletin.com

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