The U.S. Border Patrol has stopped its practice of searching buses on the north Olympic Peninsula in a nationwide shift away from some of the more controversial practices along the U.S.-Canada border.

Border Patrol agents stationed in Port Angeles, where a new regional office designed for as many as 50 agents nears completion, had been boarding public transit buses in Jefferson and Clallam counties, where they would inquire about certain passengers’ citizenship.

In October, an order was sent to Border Patrol offices throughout the U.S. instructing agents to stop the practice of searching buses and transportation hubs, such as train stations and airports, along the Canadian border in search of illegal immigrants. Opponents of the search tactics in Jefferson and Clallam counties had argued that the surprise searches violated civil liberties and targeted Hispanic-Americans via racial profiling.

News reports from other parts of the U.S., provided in an Associated Press account, noted that some agents objected to the change, given that the searches had produced illegal immigrants and also could play a role in thwarting the travel plans of possible terrorists. Transportation checks had made up one of the primary duties of Border Patrol agents who operated inland from the actual international border. Federal law gives Border Patrol agents the right to stop suspects within 100 miles of all international borders.

The change came in the wake of July 31 testimony by one Border Patrol agent, Christian Sanchez, before a Washington, D.C., open government group that the patrol’s work on the north Olympic Peninsula was a “black hole” where agents have “no mission, no purpose,” because there was so little for agents to do. Over the past 24 months, Border Patrol staffing on the Olympic Peninsula has increased to some 40 agents, according to Sanchez’s account.

In September, in a closed-door meeting, representatives of Washington’s congressional delegation – U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, and U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray – met with Northwest Border Patrol officials in a closed-door meeting. Results of that meeting were not publicly released.

In other Border Patrol news, the agency reported that it had arrested two Mexicans and one Honduran on the north Olympic Peninsula on Oct. 26. The three were arrested at the Port Angeles Boat Haven. Their names were not released.