It seems there was a policy on visas for part-time workers in Point Roberts after all. Now border officials need to figure out what to do with it and whether it still matters 25 years later.

A 1984 memo unearthed by Bellingham immigration attorney Greg Boos outlines a specific policy for Canadian part-time workers in Point Roberts.

Issued by the Seattle district office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the memo states that “due to unique circumstances, including the isolation of Point Roberts from other U.S. communities” the department of labor cannot apply procedures used for part-time workers in other areas. In response the INS, “effective immediately” gave authority to the “officer in charge” at the Point Roberts port of entry to process application for part-time service positions locally.

Joan Roberts, who closed the full service restaurant at Brewsters and laid off 18 employees earlier this summer when she was unable to obtain department of labor certification and get visas for cooks, has asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to review the memo. Local port director Omar Longoria had previously maintained that there was not any written policy specific to part-time work visas for Point Roberts, and that proper authority for issuing visas rested with national visa processing centers, not local officers. However, prior to this year the practice had been to process the applications locally and bypass department of labor review.

From an operational perspective, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) public information officer Mike Milne, the memo is moot. “Any old policies, local, district, region or agency, have been superseded by newer DHS and labor policies,” he said. “The world has changed since 1984.”

The INS was absorbed during the creation of DHS in 2003 and its functions split between two sub agencies. CBP handles border operations but visa processing is handled by Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). Milne said that CIS and the department of labor published their most recent policies in December 2008 and they went into effect in January 2009.

In September 2009 border officials said current practices at Point Roberts were not appropriate and required businesses to follow the national policy and Roberts has said her business cannot fit its requirements.

CIS regional media manager Mariana Gitomer said the information in the memo was being reviewed in light of the current policies. Gitomer said she had “asked for some guidance from DHS because this is really their jurisdiction.”

Both Congressman Rick Larsen and Whatcom County Council have sent letters to CIS asking that a solution be put in place to address the needs of the community.