Posted on 04/03/2005 5:06:19 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
HEBBRONVILLE, Texas – A South Texas man who was sued two years ago after immigrants claimed they'd been chased and assaulted on his ranch said he's "100 percent" behind the Minuteman Project, launched Friday in Arizona to protest security gaps along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But Joe Sutton said he isn't convinced the effort will slow illegal immigration and worries that citizen enforcers "are going to be tangled up in a court of law. Just like I was."
Hundreds of Minuteman volunteers this weekend are converging on the Arizona-Mexico border for a monthlong protest of what they describe as the federal government's "decades-long careless disregard" of immigration laws.
President Bush calls them "vigilantes," but supporters say they're trying to protect America from "an invasion."
Impossible task
Mr. Sutton said he backs the spirit of the protest, saying it's a natural evolution "of what I was trying to do." But he now believes that stopping illegal migrants is next to impossible.
In 2003, his own efforts drew national attention after he invited members of a group called Ranch Rescue to help him patrol his property, about six miles from Hebbronville off State Highway 16. A Salvadoran man and his wife claimed that the volunteers detained them unlawfully, threatened them and accosted them. Immigrant advocates sued Ranch Rescue, along with Mr. Sutton and his wife, Betty.
The parties settled the lawsuit, which Mr. Sutton saw as a vindication, but he said the experience left him less willing to take matters into his own hands.
So these days, when he sees suspected illegal migrants wandering near his 5,000-acre ranch, he said he rarely bothers hitting the speed dial for the Border Patrol.
"If my government doesn't care, why should I?" asked the rancher, sounding both frustrated and resigned.
He quickly points out that he's not "anti-government." In fact, he's a Bush supporter. But he said he was "really ticked off" when the president called the Minutemen "vigilantes."
People are only trying to protect what's theirs, he said.
"Whether you rent an apartment or live in a foxhole or on a million-dollar ranch, you have certain rights," he said. "How would you like it if you woke up and found a bunch of illegal aliens taking a bath in your children's swimming pool?"
Immigrant advocates say they oppose civilian efforts to keep undocumented workers out of the country.
"It leads to actions of hate, and we cannot condone that in this country," said Marisol Perez, a spokeswoman for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in San Antonio. "It's obvious there's a very anti-immigrant climate right now."
Nearly 40 percent of the population of North Texas is made up of foreign-born immigrants and their children, census figures show.
"Perhaps one half of our immigrant population is undocumented, while a great majority lives in poverty, does not speak English, has no legal status and is socially marginalized," according to a study by Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFWI), a nonprofit organization bringing together more than 1,600 civic, community and educational groups.
"You have workers who are going to accept the lowest pay and no benefits. And that's why they keep coming," said Anne Marie Weiss-Armush, DFWI's director. "Blocking the border isn't going to do anything. We'd better learn Spanish."
'End of America'
That kind of talk has William Gheen calling it "the end of America as we know it."
At least 10 million illegal immigrants are in the U.S. now, "and that'll double in five years," said Mr. Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, a private group in Raleigh, N.C. "We're in real trouble."
"It's not just Texas, California and Arizona anymore," said Rick Oltman, western U.S. field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "Everybody is being impacted by immigration. That's why the Minuteman Project has drawn so much attention."
Some immigration reform advocates would like to see a similar effort in Texas.
"There definitely should be complimentary efforts in Texas and in all the other border states," said Jack Wright, a spokesman for Ranch Rescue. "What we are witnessing in our border counties is not immigration, it is a crime wave of biblical proportions."
Back in Hebbronville, Mr. Sutton was preparing for another deluge of travelers from the south.
"We've had thousands of illegal aliens come over the border and go through this ranch. We were broken into less than a month ago for the umpteenth time," he said.
"Some people say we're losing the state. I'm pretty convinced we've already lost it."
The parties settled the lawsuit, which Mr. Sutton saw as a vindication, but he said the experience left him less willing to take matters into his own hands..."
I wonder what the terms of the settlement were?
Thanks for the media-ready negative soundbite there, Jorge.
Americans are supporting these illegals with their tax money, if that's ok with you than keep allowing it. How dare these illegals sue Americans to add insult to injury! If thats NOT ok with you than do something, contact congress and senate.
when are these ignorant, America abusing, hero's to the left, going to get it right... America is not against LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, its the sneaking in illegally groups we have to stop
I think that's stretching it a bit.
- "It leads to actions of hate, and we cannot condone that in this country," said Marisol Perez-
No, "it" does not. The peasants crossing the borders illegally and then stealing our hard-earned money in the form of free services leads to the deterioration of our infrastructure and ultimately anger. Plus, these theives aren't loyal to the USA, so they insist on turning parts of it into Mexico. Once they turn parts of the USA into the same craphole they were trying to get out of, they'll invade the rest of the country.
I have read that Bush did indeed use the word "vigilantes". I was stunned by his use of the word.
According to the dictionary "vigilantes" is defined as those who would "suppress and punish crime summarily".
His use of the word vigilantes is overkill.
I think the president is using a little "spin" to try to discourage patriots from their stated task of "reporting any aliens illegally crossing our borders to the border patrol".
It's been clearly stated by the minutemen that their objective is to REPORT to the border authorities, not "suppress or punish" anyone.
God bless these men who, with the rest of law abiding America, have been forsaken by our own government on this illegal immigrant issue.
Lastly, I would like to say that I campaigned vigorously for Mr. Bush in many ways during the last election, but had I known his stance on some domestic issues, my fervor would have been much less....such is politics.
Ping!
are you suggesting "I" might be like him?
"It's obvious there's a very anti-immigrant climate right now."
Yes, calling them “vigilantes” with the modern negative connotation is stretching it.
"Are we talking LEGAL immigrants or illegal immigrants?"
They are NOT "illegal immigrants." They are ILLEGAL ALIENS.
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