Posted on 01/24/2006 3:14:39 PM PST by DumpsterDiver
Volunteers with a civilian border-watch organization spotted dozens of suspected illegal immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico divide this weekend and reported them to the Border Patrol, according to members of the group.
Two chapters of the nationwide organization, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, parked themselves along the border in Arizona and New Mexico, eventually reporting nearly 50 border-crossers to authorities.
"They didn't try to run away. I got the impression they were kinda glad," said Bob Wright, head of the New Mexico chapter, describing the 18 suspected illegal immigrants he and other volunteers spotted in that state Saturday night. "It was about 20 degrees out there. It's rough on these guys."
That tally is separate from the 30 men and women who were spotted by Minuteman volunteers in Arizona, according to Stacey O'Connell, the organization's Arizona chapter president.
A Border Patrol spokesman confirmed that a group of migrants was detained after "civilians out in the field with the news media" called to report them. He couldn't say if it was the Minutemen who reported them.
"We get so many phone calls from concerned citizens, so it's difficult to differentiate groups," said Gustavo Soto, of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector. "Sometimes those are our best sources of intelligence to detect new areas where illegals are traveling through."
The volunteer group has cut a smaller profile in recent months than when it first began operations in early 2004. In April, a few hundred Minutemen whom President Bush has called "vigilantes" descended on border towns in Arizona and other Southwest states, stirring up media attention and protests from opposing activists without spotting many real-life illegal immigrants.
Though the group didn't produce much in the way of captured aliens, many volunteers said their presence along the border served as a silent rebuke to the Bush administration, which they blamed for failing to stop the thousands of illegal crossings happening every day.
They also touched a nerve with many border-state voters, including some in California, where Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist captured 25 percent of the vote in an Orange County congressional race, despite running as a third-party candidate.
O'Connell said the organization is planning another wide-scale operation in April, which will include volunteers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas patrolling the border region for 30 days.
That's fine with Gayle Nybert. The Murrieta woman says she has spent 94 days on the border during various patrols in several states.
Nybert was with Wright in New Mexico when the volunteers spotted the border crossers this weekend. What was originally a group of four men grew into a contingent of 18 once the immigrants came out of hiding upon realizing they wouldn't be harmed, Nybert said.
"Every time we got on the radio, we'd hear there were more," she said. "I think they were just cold and tired. It was a very cold night. They were ready to be picked up, get a good night's sleep, get food and get warm."
The activity in Arizona was similar, O'Connell said. The 55 volunteers with the group stayed in one location, scanning the horizon with binoculars rather than roaming around the desert in search of illegal immigrants. The ones who were caught, O'Connell said, were the ones who walked into the Minuteman base camp.
"We had two illegal aliens come up to our base of operations looking for water," he said. "We called the Border Patrol, and they picked up those individuals as well."
Those experiences line up with what many Border Patrol officers say often happens when they encounter immigrants who've crossed into the United States on foot. The terrain is so treacherous, and the weather so harsh in both summer and winter, that border-crossers are often glad to be taken into custody rather than face the elements any longer.
"They literally came up into our camp," said Wright of the migrants spotted in New Mexico. "They asked us to have the Border Patrol hurry along, because they were about freezing to death."
backhoe, a Thunder on the Border ping to you.
BTTT
I've given up on the U.S. doing anything about this problem.
You are right. Call your Congressman and Senators. They will avoid the common sense questions you have.
I called today and was told that there are farmers in our area that need this help. I asked, "who worked for the farmers before Illegals were here?' The crops were still picked. There was no reply other than, "I will pass along your concerns".
No, Jorge, just doin' the job you refuse to do.
ping
bttt
Who's your congress critter(s), Singermom?
I think we ought to get his name out. Know thy opponent.
About 20 of us were on the Border Saturday night, we called in 52 that were apprehended, my partner, five of those were called in by my partner, and I.
Good going!
nicely done!
Thanks for hanging in there. If the illegals are walking in for voluntary apprehension because of the weather it can't be any walk in the park for you and your fellow patriots.
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
good going Minutemen! I'd be out there, too, if I could.
we should hand over the map to the border patrol that is now being given to illegals that tells them where the "sensitive" ones to their plight are located and where they can find watering holes.
I just can't understand why we can't just put up a mighty zapper - a giant stun gun. Zap 'em all, flag down the drug runner humvees going back to Mexico, toss the illegals in the back and send then on their way. Ooops! was that a land mine the humvees just hit????
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