Well, many said there would be infiltration and copycats. Point made.
Posted on 10/30/2005 4:10:19 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Group says it has reported 300-800 illegal immigrants
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps will wrap up its first month of watching the Texas border this week, and the group says the month was a success and it has no plans to quit now.
"We are determined that we are not going to leave until (the government) relieves us of our duties," said Al Garza, the director of operations for the Minuteman group in Texas. "It will be with limited personnel, but we know where the hotspots are, and we're going to deploy there."
Garza said there were about 600 volunteers involved this month, and about 300 remain. Mike Vickers, the Falfurrias sector chief, said more volunteers keep coming to replace those who have gone home.
"We're still hard at it," he said. "Even though our official operation ends Monday, we're hanging tough."
Garza and Vickers' estimates vary on just how successful the month was. Garza said he believes the group has reported about 300 sightings to the Border Patrol, and about half of those were detained. Vickers, who owns the Falfurrias ranch where the Minuteman group is headquartered, said the group has reported more than 800 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol around Falfurrias and in the Rio Grande Valley.
Roy Cervantes, spokesman for the Border Patrol's McAllen sector, said he could not confirm either number over the weekend.
One thing Garza and Vickers agree upon, however, is that reports of their minutemen harassing local residents by pulling them over late at night - or by carrying guns into restaurants - are untrue.
"That's a fallacy," Garza said. "I think it's a fabricated story. If anyone has done that, it was not the minutemen. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps does not pull anybody over. We do not arrest. We do not detain. Nor do we pretend to be law enforcement."
Vickers blamed the stories on people pretending to be minutemen to make the group look bad.
"I can just tell you that's not the minutemen," he said. "The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps that we have here absolutely does not do anything like that."
Several Falfurrias restaurant proprietors who were contacted said they hadn't seen any gun-toting minutemen, or any harassment.
Vickers said the Contra Minutemen Coalition, who made some of the accusations and have called the minutemen racists, were racists themselves.
"They have absolutely no idea what we do because they can't step one foot on this property without landing in jail," Vickers said. "I think they ought to be tried for treason. If they were really concerned about America, they'd be out there trying to stop this invasion, but they're not."
The Caller-Times made three appointments to observe the Minuteman group's watches, but all three appointments were canceled.
Contact Brandi Dean at 886-3778 or deanb@caller.com deanb@caller.com
Several Falfurrias restaurant proprietors who were contacted said they hadn't seen any gun-toting minutemen, or any harassment.
The ACLU must be sorely disappointed. Kudos to the Minutemen.
"...people pretending to be Minutemen..."
No doubt these are contract workers.
The question is, who is employing them?
La Raza? The Federal Government? The media?
The answers, when revealed, will be interesting.
Good for them!
The good and the bad of the Texas border, it's mostly private property. Also part of the problem with putting the military there.
"The question is, who is employing them?"
Follow the money! Drug smugglers, Slavers, Terroristas?
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Seems far too many don't quite understand that, especially BOR.
O'Rielly didn't like the Swift Boat Veterans either!
LOL! Mexico tried it and ended up with PEMEX!
MM ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
Private owners might lease a strip by the river for the military to patrol.
That's why I've called for federalizing a quarter- to half-mile strip of land on our side of the border and declaring it a "military base" so that anyone caught on it can be searched without a warrant or probable cause, charged with criminal trespass, and sent home just like it would be if they were caught on any other military base in the country.
Uh, yeah. LOL
You would try and solve the illegal problem by violating the property rights of American citizens?
Not what this country, nor this state, was founded on.
I'm ignorant where Texas is concerned, but the entire border in Arizona has a road that is part of the border, with Mexico on one side and quite a bit of private property on the other. It's just like a utility easement alongside your house inside city limits.
Is Texas really different?
Well, many said there would be infiltration and copycats. Point made.
No road, not public anyway, in most places.
This one isn't public either, it's for use by the USBP and other law enforcement - Customs, Park Police, Forest Rangers, etc.
As a Minuteman who sat on the border for a week (I know not a lot of time) I can tell you that watching is more P.R. then actually accomplishing something. If we want to stop the influx of illegals we have to go after those that hire them and support them. P.S.- I will go back in Jan. and April to defend the border.AWB
Over the length of our border, there would be at least some resistance to establishing a corridor, which is the owners right to restrict access to their own property, be it from illegals or the federal government.
Probably not but I was thinking about easement routes of a small access of dirt road . The county probably already has easement rights anyway. You are right though. The government would want to " park and expand"
A lot of blather about the illegal problem by places north. Seems they want border states to fix the inflow, yet they're not willing to send back the ones they have.
I think the first 300 feet is federal property.
Have seen local LE stop and then release illegals, if they are doing nothing else illegal, because of housing costs waiting for the feds to retrieve them. This is getting a little better though.
What about water access?
I know this may sound odd, but is there anyway I can personally thank the Minutemen for the job they are doing?
Contact Us
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, Inc.
PO Box 1489
Tombstone, AZ 85638
(520) 457-2320
Or you can email us at info@MinutemanHQ.com
How would someone's rights be violated? Are your rights violated because there are military bases in the US? I don't get where you are coming from.
Then that should solve the problem. Why can't the Minutemen sit there? And more importantly, why can't the Border Patrol prevent people from crossing there?
Thanks! I'll send them a note. Hope to meet some of the MM sometime, though I don't know when.
"Follow the money! Drug smugglers, Slavers, Terroristas?"
Washington DC
I really have a hard time believing that private landowners own the United States Border and access to it...
Well, duh. Of course not. The land would have to be purchased. What did you think, they would simply steal it? Land for military bases is always purchased from private owners unless the Feds already own it. But if a 300' stip already exists, that should be good enough.
That would involve a taking of privately owned land.
I have a friend who's family had thousands of acres of land taken by the government during WWII for a military base. This was supposed to be for only as long as the war lasted. Years after the war the government still retained possesion of the land, when the ranchers involved tried to get their land back, the land was condemed because of contamination from military operations, the ranchers were paid pennys on the dollar for their land.
There may be an easement of sorts, I don't know, but with eminent domain apparently fine with the SCOTUS, we cannot give them any ideas.
What's wrong with the rest of the country NOT hiring the illegals?
I believe the land for Dyess AFB was purchased from local owners.
Hang in there SouthTexas, there are a lot better ways to solve this problem than confiscating your land. That should be saved for a last resort type effort.
We haven't even tried the best two, stopping the hiring and stopping the governemnt from taking money from us and giving it to them.
Not if they are paid for it.
I have a friend who's family had thousands of acres of land taken ... [blah, blah]
Just because the government did something bad to someone in the past doesn't mean that is the way it would work now. Shoot, General Sherman burnt my G-G-G-Grand Pappy's home to the ground, stole his pigs, peed in his well, and kicked his dog, but that doesn't mean I should steer clear of a modern Army general fearing he might do the same.
Far too much imminent doom, or eminent domain threats, prevail today to suit me.
In Texas you can sell the surface land, but retain the water rights.
Not my land, I'm not that close. Just don't want to be next.
The river is the water.
Water rights can include surface water.
You aren't paying attention, the Federal Government is constantly taking land from farmers, and ranchers. I would suggest you call 877-847-3443, and ask for a complimentary copy of their magazine, a $35.00 contribution will get every magazine for a year, delivered to your mailbox.
Saved the link for later. Water is something that has already caused a few rumbles in Texas and continues to for that matter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.