Video: Border patrol checks on domestic routes

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ANACORTES, Wash. – Border patrol checks at the Anacortes ferry dock are upsetting may people who live in San Juan County. U.S. citizens are being asked for identification, even if they're traveling from the San Juans to the mainland without leaving the country. Border agents have been doing spot checks for several months, stopping and questioning people – many who live on Lopez Island or San Juan Island.

"I have had my citizenship checked and I'm just waiting for them to start checking the citizenship of people coming from Bainbridge to Seattle," said Lauren Stephens, Lopez Island resident.

Some islanders are even being asked to provide proof of citizenship, even though they haven't left the country.

"I think it's just a way of finding illegal immigrants on the islands and it has nothing to do with homeland security," said Jamie Stephens, Lopez Island resident.

Some folks are mad and say the searches are unconstitutional.

"We've talked to people who are dark and they have a much more aggressive stance with those people than with someone who's blonde and blue-eyed like me," said Lauren.

The border patrol says the searches are necessary to weed out terrorists who could use the waterways to sneak in. Some islanders support the new search tactics.

"Anything they do to help protect us and everything else, I'm not against at all," said Frank Fenwell, San Juan Island resident.

A group of islanders have called their congressional delegation and the ACLU to get legal advice on this constitutional question.