08 July 2015

A US civil rights lawyer who has not been detained and questioned about clients in a career spanning 20 years believes that three recent lengthy border checks could be related to his work for an activist environmental group.

Deep Green has been active in protesting against the Keystone XL pipeline over fears of oil spills Danny E Hooks

Larry Hildes of the Lawrence Hildes Law Offices in Bellingham, Washington acts for the Deep Green Resistance group and has been asked about a member of it in two out of three occasions recently when he was subject to border checks of an hour or more. He lives close to the Canadian border and is used to crossing the frontier with ease.

Keystone pipeline

Members of Deep Green, who are based in seven US states, say that they have been questioned and harrassed by members of the US security services at work and at home. Of particular interest has been the environmentally controversial Keystone XL pipeline. There are concerns about the potential for oil spills from the pipeline which goes through environmentally sensitive areas, and Deep Green has been active in protesting against it.

Questioning at Miami airport

Mr Hildes has been stopped three times in the last two months - twice crossing the Canadian border and once at Miami airport, coming back from Cuba. On two occasions he was asked about one of the Deep Green members, Deanna Meyer. He was questioned for three hours at the airport, and the questioning turned to the subject of Ms Meyer at the end. In a border crossing he was also asked about her.

'We want the details'

Mr Hildes said: 'Coming after me like this is not going to get them anything. I’m not sure what they think they’re accomplishing,' Some members of the group have been questioned by the FBI. Mr Hildes has asked for information from the FBI. It said that his clients were not part of a criminal investigation but would not reveal more. Mr Hildes said: 'At this point we want to know what’s going on. We want the details and also personally I want it to stop.' Source: The Guardian