Editor:
Many will be familiar with that oddity of U.S. territory, Point Roberts. To a few, it's a wart that should not be while to many visitors, it's simply a place to pick up a few items, use postal services and enjoy a break at the fuel pump.
An acquaintance with an ancient misdemeanor found the same obstacle to enter Point Roberts as if he'd sought entry at any U.S. border point. His crime, for which he'd been fined, had been in having an open beer in the parked car in which he slept.
This man presented no threat at all, as the border guard knew, but without a statute of limitations, this hounding is permitted. In this case, the victim could have applied for a waiver, but he complained, "That $5 block of cheese would have cost me close to $600."
The Department of Homeland Security was formed following 9/11. Has it become a make-work bureaucracy, less interested in security than fleecing legitimate travelers that offer no threat? One victim, at least, sees its activity as bordering on extortion.
Philip Hebbard
