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Not welcome Laredo LULAC councils state opposition to Minutemens arrival on border
LAREDO MORNING TIMES ^ | 07/17/05 | FRANCISCO VARA-ORTA

Posted on 07/17/2005 6:57:44 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch

The Laredo-area League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are urging City Council to create a city ordinance to deter the Minutemen Project as nearby El Cenizo did so last week.

"Texas LULAC does not wish to belittle the Minutemen Project," said Estela Quintanilla, director for LULAC District XIV. "But we oppose the project because it employs tactics against immigrants … and tends to breed racism."

The Minutemen Project, a nationally organized group of citizens aiming to stop illegal immigration on the U.S. borders, already has two active groups in Texas with one mission in October in the El Paso area.

One group, Texas Minutemen, has set its sights on the Laredo area for April.

El Cenizo approved an ordinance last Thursday night that its mayor hopes will discourage the Minutemen Project and drug activity from the citys riverfront park.

"We want to avert a potential showdown," said El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes. "We dont want people to come in here and harass our residents."

Shannon McGauley, a Texas Minutemen spokesperson, said the El Cenizo ordinance infringes on gun rights in Texas and the group will investigate the ordinances lawfulness.

"In a way, the ordinance makes us want to go out there even more so," McGauley said.

Saturday morning, area LULAC councils issued a joint statement vowing to fight the Minutemen Project on the Texas-Mexico border.

Quintanilla said the Minutemen are taking the law into their own hands, creating an anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic atmosphere.

LULAC State Director Roger Rocha said LULAC will push for an ordinance similar to El Cenizo to be approved by the council in the next few months and meet with the local ranchers association to address their concerns.

In addition, they are meeting this weekend with U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar to ask for support on working with Austin on statewide legislation.

Governor Rick Perry has said the Minutemen can operate as long as they dont break the law.

In Laredo, however, they may already have some support on the council.

Mayor Betty Flores has publicly said that the Minutemen are not welcome in Laredo.

"Laredo is where we are because of the immigrants," Flores said last month in a phone interview. "I dont believe the Minutemen belong in Texas we can take care of our own."

LULAC officials echoed El Cenizos concerns that the Minutemen wont be able to tell the difference between an illegal immigrant and an El Cenizo resident, many of whom are first-generation Mexican-American or are recent immigrants living here legally.

"How can they distinguish if Im illegal by just looking at me?" Rocha said.

One longtime LULAC member, Chelo Montalvo, said she thinks the group has racist undertones.

"They dont have a right to tell us what to do," Montalvo said. "We dont want a bunch of outsiders here."

Texas Minutemen organizers have said they are composed of different ethnicities, including some Hispanic ranchers, and are a peaceful group.

"We will not be confronting anyone crossing. Thats Border Patrols job," McGauley said. "All we are is an extra set of eyes for the Border Patrol. We believe in following the law and think every else should, too."

Ultimately though, both LULAC and Texas Minutemen agree that more Border Patrol agents need to put on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We need real, trained law enforcement individuals," Rocha said. "But I dont see the need for a Minutemen Project to do so."

(Francisco Vara-Orta can be reached at 728-2562 or by e-mail at fvara@lmtonline.com)


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Mexico; US: District of Columbia; US: Texas; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aliens; elcenizo; illegals; laredo; lulac; minutemenproject; texasminutemen
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To: SwinneySwitch

That ol' debil "racism" again. Why them ol' Latin American Citizens can look at them blue eyed fair complected people and just know that the devil "racism" controls their souls.


21 posted on 07/17/2005 7:49:04 AM PDT by junta (Is Mexico an ally in the WOT?)
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To: cripplecreek
Things that barely get reported: I own property in LaPaz, Mexico (vacation home in southern Baja). An AlQueda terrorist working with an MS-13 cell was arrested in Todo Santos - 80km away on the pacific coast. Now that bothers me.

BTW: LaPaz is a wonderful "blue collar" mexican city without the "resort" mentality, sadly, it's still mexico, and all the "stuff" that comes along with it.

22 posted on 07/17/2005 9:08:15 AM PDT by xcamel (Deep Red, stuck in a "bleu" state.)
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To: SwinneySwitch
Other than the boob involved in the t-shirt incident during the Arizona campaign, have there been any documented crimes committed by the Minutemen?

I belonged to a Neighborhood Watch group in LA's Little Tokyo. We walked the streets & reported any crimes we witnessed to the LAPD. I don't see the difference between what we did & what the Minutemen are doing.
23 posted on 07/17/2005 9:09:55 AM PDT by Rick Deckard
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To: SwinneySwitch
"How can they distinguish if Im illegal by just looking at me?" Rocha said

They can't. You have to walk north across the border.

These LULAC types are real trouble makers, aren't they?

24 posted on 07/17/2005 9:26:56 AM PDT by GVnana
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To: SwinneySwitch
"Laredo is where we are because of the immigrants," Flores said

Oh yeah, the economy of Laredo is simply **great**.../sarcasm......here's a statement from Laredo Med. Center re: Laredo's *booming* economy....

http://www3.cancer.gov/rrp/CDRP/laredo.html

Patient Population

"Laredo Medical Center serves a community that is 95% Hispanic with more than 35% of its residents living in poverty. Laredo has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation with one in every three families living at or below the poverty level. Laredo Medical Center also serves 40 - 60 colonias (unincorporated areas with substantial substandard housing). The conditions in the colonias are comparable to poverty found in many third world countries. Most of the colonias are without running water, electricity and telephone service."

25 posted on 07/17/2005 9:30:25 AM PDT by txdoda ("Navy Brat")
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To: Judge Roy
Discrimination is a word that was coined to intimidate people out of there right to defend their way of life.

I see. Historically speaking, what if discriminating under the guise of "defending their way of life" created by law second-class citizens. Was that right?


26 posted on 07/17/2005 10:12:23 AM PDT by rdb3 (What you want? Morning sickness or sickness from mourning? --Nick Cannon)
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To: rdb3

No one make anyone second class by being someone to admired. However when some want to pull others down to their precieved value then all loose.


27 posted on 07/17/2005 10:21:00 AM PDT by Judge Roy
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To: Judge Roy
No one make anyone second class by being someone to admired.

That's indecipherable. Come again?


28 posted on 07/17/2005 10:24:23 AM PDT by rdb3 (What you want? Morning sickness or sickness from mourning? --Nick Cannon)
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To: rdb3

No one make anyone second class by being someone to admire


29 posted on 07/17/2005 10:38:28 AM PDT by Judge Roy
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To: SwinneySwitch

"How can they distinguish if Im illegal by just looking at me?" Rocha said.


It's pretty easy, really, you just say "eres legal, o no legal" and when they start to run you pretty much have your answer.


30 posted on 07/17/2005 10:44:20 AM PDT by FastCoyote
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To: Judge Roy
No one make anyone second class by being someone to admire

Okay, since my forefathers apparently weren't to be admired, it was fine to treat them as second-class citizens. Am I understanding you correctly?


31 posted on 07/17/2005 10:44:51 AM PDT by rdb3 (What you want? Morning sickness or sickness from mourning? --Nick Cannon)
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To: SwinneySwitch

I doubt if any member of LULAC has ever, ever used the racist epithet G---g-.


32 posted on 07/17/2005 10:46:43 AM PDT by AmericanVictory (Should we be more like them, or they like us?)
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To: GVgirl

Oh yes! The San Antonio contingent of LULAC has been Looney for decades.


33 posted on 07/17/2005 10:57:27 AM PDT by rock58seg (RINO"s make the Republicans MINO"s (Majority In Name Only)!)
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To: rdb3

I believe what Judge Roy may be saying is that discrimination against another should be based on their bad behavior.

Living in a SW border state, I see much that angers me about our immigration policies, the lack of teeth and might of the INS, and the holier than thou libs. My experience with LULAC, La Raza, other race based groups is that they are run by either corrupt members of the patrone society, or displaced old hippies looking for a new reason to protest and feel 'put upon'. Minority my A##! Check the census numbers for our state folks! The hispanic population has never, ever, been a minority in number in my state. If LULAC, La Raza and others would cease and desist, the differences between us and notions of discrimination would likely be much further from many peoples' minds. These groups merely exacerbate the problem.

I have no problem whatsoever with legal immigration. Many folks who've come here from Mexico and the Pacific Rim have a work ethic that is truly admirable. We need to look more closely at our immigration policies of 100 years ago. If you're attempting to bring in something detrimental, be it disease or criminal behavior, you aren't welcome. Period. Enforce it!


34 posted on 07/17/2005 11:14:46 AM PDT by Caterina
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To: joesnuffy
I said something similar on another thread awhile back and someone thought I was a racist. But that is what all this boils down to is money. The other thing is that in addition to LULAC and LA Raza we are fighting people of Hispanic heritage that are state and local politicians.

Politicians of any stripe are not going to fight the illegal immigration problem because they are courting the Hispanic vote.
35 posted on 07/17/2005 11:20:43 AM PDT by Americanexpat (A strong democracy through citizen oversight.)
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To: ken21
it would behoove the minutemen to increase their ranks by indigenous mexicans and blacks.

All are welcome... regester at the newer site and fill out the volunteer form. (left side, below the login.)

http://officialminutemen.com/>



Or, go to the first Texas Minutemen websight and fill out the volunteer form.

http://www.txminutemen.com/>

36 posted on 07/17/2005 11:58:53 AM PDT by TLI (. ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA,. .Minuteman Project, Day -1 to Day 8)
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To: SwinneySwitch
The Laredo-area League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are urging City Council to create a city ordinance to deter the Minutemen Project as nearby El Cenizo did so last week.

Criminals illegally in the United States are welcome, fellow Americans are not welcome.

Something is wrong here!

37 posted on 07/17/2005 12:06:59 PM PDT by RJL
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To: SwinneySwitch

Hispanic majority or not, Laredo is still part of the United States of America and a city of Texas. As a Texan, I welcome the minutemen to our state and borders. The invasion thru our borders is illegal and needs to be stopped or at least legally controlled. We have a family farm 8 miles from the border and this is my business as much as or more than LULAC's.


38 posted on 07/17/2005 12:18:10 PM PDT by Liberty Valance ( Howdy!)
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To: TLI; ken21

I don't understand. Why would we want "indigenous mexicans" in the Minutemen? Doesn't that mean they'd be from Mexico? Would they be guarding their side of the border to keep people from getting out?


39 posted on 07/17/2005 12:24:42 PM PDT by hispanarepublicana (There will be no bad talk or loud talk in this place. CB Stubblefield.)
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To: Americanexpat

Politicians of any stripe are not going to fight the illegal immigration problem because they are courting the Hispanic vote.

This may be the case, however if any politician would really poll this portion of our populous, he/she would find that the majority of the legal immigrants and native hispanics feel just the way we on this board do. Illegal immigration is wrong. The vast majority of our hispanic population is law abiding, hard working, and family oriented culturally. They are a good people, and they are Americans who support our laws and want a safe country just as the rest of us.

When will these d#mn politicians realize that the majority would stand behind someone with the cahones to do what is ethically and morally right? Screw the PC crowd. In actuality, they are a small but loud minority.


40 posted on 07/17/2005 12:51:17 PM PDT by Caterina
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