Posted on 04/03/2005 4:09:54 PM PDT by 11th_VA
PHOENIX (AP) - The first encounter with immigrants trying to illegally entering the country was peaceful for volunteers of the Minuteman Project -- a month-long effort by citizens from around the country who plan to patrol the Mexican border for illegal crossers and smugglers.
U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame said agents received a call about 1 p.m. Saturday about a group of suspected border crossers near Naco. When agents arrived, they apprehended 18 illegal crossers, he said.
Adame said the border patrol does not release the identities of citizen callers in order to protect the callers and encourage future reports.
Organizers of the Minuteman Project said the immigrants were spotted by their volunteers and a landowner.
Volunteers planned to start official patrols on Monday, fanning out across 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley to watch the border and report any illegal activity to federal agents. It's an exercise some law enforcement authorities and others fear could lead to vigilante violence.
A group of volunteers had started conducting border reconnaissance on Saturday to familiarize themselves with area. That's when they spotted the immigrants, organizers say.
"You observe them, report them, and get out of the way," said Mike McGarry, a spokesman for the project.
"That's the ethos of this thing," he said. "It's been pretty well drummed into people's mind and they have been respectful of that."
Another immigrant was reported to federal authorities by the group after he wandered into the Bible College in the Palominas area, where about 100 project volunteers were staying. McGarry said the man walked in and said that he was in serious need of food and water. According to McGarry, the volunteers helped the man and notified the federal agents, who picked him up.
Adame said the man was weary from traveling, but was not in need of medical attention.
"It's not uncommon to have aliens that have had enough," Adame said. "They'll walk up to someone's house and ask them to call us. They're waiting on the porch when we arrive."
Saturday marked the start of the Minute Project as participants, supporters and protesters marched in southern Arizona to draw attention to what they say is the government's failure to control the border.
Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, estimates that as many as 450 people came out for two rallies held Saturday at Border Patrol stations in Douglas and Naco.
Project organizer Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant from California, has said the people at Saturday's protest represented only a portion of those on hand for the operation. Many of the Minuteman volunteers were recruited over the Internet.
McGarry said about 200 people were expected to be in place at the border for Monday's patrols.
Human rights activists and some authorities have questioned whether the patrols will draw the hundreds that organizers have touted.
Despite concerns that volunteers -- many who planned to be armed -- would become confrontational with immigrants, Capas said they were keeping the peace.
"Everything seems to be going well," Capas said.
The Arizona-Mexico border is considered the most vulnerable stretch of the 2,000-mile southern border. Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol last year, 51 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border.
The state has also been heavily targeted by immigration officials, who have been bolstering the Border Patrol presence here in recent months. On Wednesday, the Homeland Security Department announced that it is assigning 534 additional agents to help keep out potential terrorists and illegal immigrants.
Good news!
I'm there in spirit.
Short and sweet. This is what it's all about.
Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol last year, 51 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border.
So 550,000 of those that were caught were caught in
Arizona last year, that works out to an average of
1,500 a day.
Washington, we have a problem.
And of course, those were only the ones that got caught.
Correct, and that's precisely what was done here.
Not exactly the actions of "vigilantes."
Great job, patriots!
Ahhhh..the moonshine wahoos strike/sarcasm
I love those guys ping!
And those were just the ones caught. The number of those that make it across successfully is a lot higher than that.
Our undocumented border patrol agents found 19 undocumented illegal alien border jumpers.
Good start!
WTG! Good job.
I wonder what the final tally will be by the end of the month?
Here is the Rooters take on the illegal that the MM gave food and water:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1376728/posts
Good for the Minutemen!!
hee hee! Is that your CJ impression?
When do the usual Mexico-merger trolls show up to explain why this is a bad thing ?
That is about it, I don't know any big words so it is the best I can do.(^;
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