Posted on 05/12/2005 6:49:04 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952
Other patrols are being considered for New Mexico and California
By Edward Hegstrom
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Thursday, May 12, 2005
HOUSTON -- After spending a month engaged in a citizens patrol along the Arizona-Mexico border, the Minutemen are finalizing plans to come to Texas.
Chris Simcox, the leader of the controversial Arizona project to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants, says he has tentatively set October as a date to begin patrols along the Rio Grande in South Texas.
Other patrols are being considered for New Mexico and California.
But Simcox said that there are serious logistical problems for patrols in Texas. Most of the land along the Texas border is privately owned, and some of it is urbanized, unlike the open lands the group walked in Arizona.
And the same reports of drug violence that have scared some tourists away from the South Texas region also have become a concern to the Minutemen.
"The Texas border is pretty dangerous right now," Simcox said.
That won't scare the Arizona-based citizen patrols away, he said, but it does mean they will be more careful in planning their operations in Texas, which might even include efforts to disrupt the flow of drugs.
"Security becomes a serious issue because we are going to be annoying a lot of people," including leaders of the drug cartels, he said.
The monthlong Minuteman Project patrol in Arizona probably diverted the flow of illegal immigrants instead of preventing it, government officials say.
Minuteman organizers say the Border Patrol apprehended fewer than 5,000 illegal immigrants in the 20-mile region they patrolled for a month, as opposed to 60,000 the year before.
But organizers did serve to draw attention to the issue. President Bush called the Minutemen "vigilantes," but California Gov. Arnold Schwarze- negger praised them.
Houston organizers opposed to illegal immigration say they are ready to go to the border.
"Get geared up and get ready, because we're going to be there in October," said Wanda Schultz of Houston, a representative of Americans for Zero Population Growth.
Schultz and her husband went to Arizona last month to participate in the Minuteman effort.
Border representatives were less enthusiastic.
"I think the Minutemen would probably create more problems than they would solve," Brownsville Mayor Eddie Trevino Jr. said.
Trevino said that most people in South Texas believe the Border Patrol is doing its job. Increased government patrols in recent years have reduced crime in Brownsville, he said.
Texas also has a string of cities with Mexican twin cities, where regular cross-border traffic is a boon to the local economies and where citizen patrols might not be welcome.
"We're trying to distinguish between terrorists and tourists," said Trevino.
That's a difficult task better left to trained professional law enforcement, he added.
Though the Minutemen initially considered patrolling near Brownsville, Simcox said he is considering going much farther northwest, to the Big Bend National Park.
He's also reaching out to South Texas ranchers who might consider inviting the Minutemen to patrol their private land.
But recent history might make that effort more difficult. A group called Ranch Rescue did a number of patrols on private South Texas ranches in 2003, including one on a ranch near Hebbronville. Two illegal immigrants from El Salvador claimed that they were detained, and one said he was pistol-whipped by a Ranch Rescue representative on patrol.
A jury deadlocked on an assault charge against the Ranch Rescue representative. But the two immigrants filed a civil suit against both Ranch Rescue and the landowner. The owner, Joe Sutton, settled out of court.
Simcox says the Minutemen can't be compared with Ranch Rescue. Representatives of the Minutemen have been told to notify the Border Patrol when they spot an illegal immigrant crossing the border but not to attempt an arrest themselves.
Ranch Rescue "took a much more militant approach," Simcox said.
Texas Minuteman ping.......
I can't believe it took this long, but better now than never.
I think the border states should have the state patrol their border. The FBI investigates crimes in our states and at the same time, state investigators investigate the crimes as well.
***I think the border states should have the state patrol their border.***
That is a great idea, but the feds want to have their hands on everything.
HiJinx, I think you have the Border ping lists, or is it someone else?
Welcome.
bump / ping!
I wish the politicians in DC would take note of the fact that there are so many illegal immigrants and drugs flowing across the border. Seems like that is one issue they are not worried about enough.
I got a survey from Senator Elizabeth Dole asking what my primary concern was for the President's second term. I checked illegal immigration and illegal drugs every time it was a choice and added a comment after every section. I also added this in the "Additional Comments" section.
Close the border.
Close the border.
Close the border.
Close the border.
Close the border.
Then at the end, I added this.
Did I mention Close The Border????
Please excuse any duplicate ping.
FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
I am reminded of my time in South Florida in the 1980s, when the mayors and police chiefs of a few cities were arrested for heading conspiracies to assist enormous smuggling operations. They would arrange for the police to always be in the wrong place when the drugs were landed, and they were paid a fortune for this service.
Public Awareness Campaign Bump and Ping...
Good luck and good hunting.
April 1775
"That for the purpose of effectually carrying into execution the recommendation of the Continental Congress respecting the appointment of minute-men, four thousand able-bodied effective men be enlisted and enrolled in the several counties in this Province, under officers to be appointed and commissioned by this Congress or Committee of Safety, who shall hold themselves in constant readiness, on the shortest notice, to march to any place where their assistance maybe required for the defense of this or any neighboring colony."
That area of Texas is like a war zone I'm told. The drug cartel considers it THEIR'S.
MMP coming to Texas.
You bring up the excellent point of border access. I have two points in return.
/1/ It is unclear if average Americans ("Undocumented Border Patrol Agents") are allowed to travers that strip of federal land right on the border. That is not private property, it is federal land, containing the border fence (such as it is or is not) and the "government road" or "G-road." It is imperative that we iron that question out.
/2/ As in Cali, which I am more familiar with, we must establish a Minuteman strategy of defense in depth, with MM stationed at rural crossroads etc, to watch for alien pick-ups, the load vans, the clown houses etc. This is also very useful, both to relay to the BP, and to film for later use in shaming our complicit federal govt.
Yes...good idea to go to the border in October when it will be pleasantly cool. Let the illegals travel through West Texas June-September when the killer temperatures provide some natural protection for our southern border. I think Texans will do a great job of defending our territory.
IIRC, the MMP set up on the G-Road while here in Cochise County. I know for a fact that a former FReeper known for unusual animal husbandry habits routinely drives along that road w/o problem.
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