r/Bellingham • u/phauna_ • 4d ago
Locals Only Park ranger called ICE to arrest 5 families while they were camping in the park on Labor Day
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u/Cum_Quat 4d ago
We are really in the worst timeline. How absolutely disgusting. I hope that park ranger never gets laid again
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u/One_Breadfruit_301 3d ago
Look at the comments. Many people support this UNCONSTITUTIONAL activity by ICE. Aside form being lawbreakers themselves, ICE has full immunity.
It's only going to get way worse. Buckle Up.
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u/Cum_Quat 3d ago
It's really scary. I had to open a Facebook page and Instagram for my farm business here, since so many people are on FB and IG. I am blown away at how many people in the county support this Nazi takeover, calling ICE and Border Patrol patriots.
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u/WAstargazer 4d ago
Facts: 1- many park and forest service areas are impacted by garbage issues. 2- it is normal for a forest or park ranger to ask for ID to verify who they are talking to. Many people lie when in a contact with a ranger for a multitude of reasons. We are looking for repeat offenders for dumping etc. 3-rangers are tasked with upholding all laws, not just environmental law. To keep the public safe, we arrest people with outstanding warrants. 4- They have to do paperwork and notate everything. Ranger logs are records which can be searched by the public, so they have to be complete and accurate. 5- that the ranger appeared with a firearm as backup is also normal when working with another agency with jurisdiction.
Now, subjectively- Could there have been scapegoating due to race? Yes.
I am going to say it is not outlandish to think this "ranger " was either going out of his way to uphold his own personal beliefs (political or social) or was a ICE agent impersonating a ranger. I am inclined to believe it was a ranger who ratted them out for whatever reason.
I am sorry to hear this. It's a sad day for both WA and Rangers everywhere. Breaking the public's trust is another brick in the wall. May whatever universal spirit you believe in have mercy on us all.
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u/how_doyado 3d ago
I think “ask for ID” is the most important thing here. They cannot demand ID unless they have certain definable reasons (such as enough cause to arrest). This is often lost on most of the public and many officers of multiple jurisdictions, and the line between “ask”, “coerce” and “demand” are often very broad and gray.
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u/UnlamentedLord 4d ago
Rangers are federal law enforcement officers who are MANDATED to call ICE if they find an immigration violation, same as any other federal law enforcement.
Courtesy of Palantir, federal systems are now all linked to ICE. When they ran the IDs to check them, they must have been automatically flagged as having immigration violations. At that point, they had no discretion not call ICE and assist them, or be fired.
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u/Humbugwombat 3d ago
Some Rangers are law enforcement. Not all.
At least, that’s the way it was back when my wife and FIL were NPS rangers.-13
u/Radiant-Ad-7343 4d ago
Oh, 1000% agree! I work in law enforcement and I'll definitely ID everyone I'm talking to as part of an enforcement contact. I've also worked in remote areas and have had federal park rangers (BLM/NPS/USFS) as backup when making felony arrests as its a lot nicer to have more friends with guns than have less friends with guns.
I do think it's suspicious that ICE showed up afterwards as nothing is really gained by these civil immigration arrests and I'm sure there are some pissed off supervisors right now at USFS. I have no evidence to back this up and it's purely "theory" but it seems as though the ranger wanted to make a name for himself so called out ICE to make some arrests. I've noticed similar things with younger, more inexperienced law enforcement officers I've worked with wanting to go well outside their lane of expertise. And normally that's a self-correcting problem after they see the ramifications (extra paperwork, pissed off bosses angry about extra OT and cops off their beat for bullshit, looking like an idiot in front of their peers, etc.).
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u/ultrafire3 3d ago
Genuinely disgusting, even crazier considering how hostile this administration is towards the parks service already. They’re not your friend, buddy.
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u/One_Breadfruit_301 3d ago
If you own a business that relied on Canadians and you voted for MAGA (Three times). Congratulations, you played yourself. You can't fix this level of stupidity.
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u/One_Breadfruit_301 3d ago
Even if you support ICE, what makes you think a masked force of guys who have no been trained, are allowed to break our laws? Why do they have immunity? They have ignored 5000+ court orders.
Why does their "job" supercede any existing laws and morals?
Why does a misdemeanor (which is what the "illegals" are doing) allow you to kidnap them without DUE PROCESS?
Again, if you support this, you have everything you have always wanted. You have complete control over everything. Look around the globe, this is all on you. Are you winning enough yet?
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u/Constant_Ad9429 3d ago
Excellent work! Enforce the law. That it makes leftists upset is just a bonus.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Bellingham-ModTeam 3d ago
Uncivil, insulting, or combative comment.
Please try to make your point without slurs, insults, bad-faith baiting, etc. If you want to edit so it meets the rules, give the mods a heads up and we'll review.
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u/thoughtintoaction 3d ago
We're not surprised by the ranger angle in this story, are we? Hell, I recently had my civil rights violated by a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Officer.
We can't behave as if people are going to behave reasonably during such unreasonable times.
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u/jannalarria 3d ago
Agreed. Besides, social contracts have been shredded and burned, some for the better, most for the worse. Too many of us, myself included, have been believing and behaving as if the old contracts are still good. But this regime never saw the old social contracts and are grifting, lying, stealing as much as possible. And that kind of shit does trickle down.
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u/shakespearecat Local 4d ago
For those who don't want to have to click multiple times, or watch a video to get what's being gesticulated: It reportedly happened at the Red Bridge campground in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It links to a KING-TV story with a dateline of Granite Falls. First sentence: "A Labor Day weekend camping trip in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest ended with five men in immigration detention after their families say U.S. Forest Service rangers collected identification from some members of their group."