DHS attempt to quell privacy fears backfires

Joe Giuliano, Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol in Washington State, was sent to San Juan to calm privacy fears of local residents who were concerned with ‘citizenship checks’ on ferries to the island. In an ironic twist, he ended up exacerbating the problem after describing the Border Patrol’s creepy use of radiation detectors:

“Vehicle goes by at 70 miles per hour,” Giuliano told the crowd. “Agent is in the median, a good 80 feet away from the traffic. Signal went off and identified an isotope [in the passing car].”

The agent raced after the car, pulling it over not far from the monitoring spot (near the Bow-Edison exit, 18 miles south of Bellingham). The agent questioned the driver, then did a cursory search of the car, Giuliano said.

Did he find a nuke?

“Turned out to be a cat with cancer that had undergone a radiological treatment three days earlier,” Giuliano said.

He added: “That’s the type of technology we have that’s going on in the background. You don’t see it. If I hadn’t told you about it, you’d never know it was there.”

‘Citizenship checks? That’s nothing compared to our radiation detectors. So what are you guys worried about?’

Said San Juan County Councilman Kevin Ranker: “I think it’s fair to say many people up here have been left wondering just what kind of country it is they’re living in.”