Posted on 03/30/2005 1:24:18 PM PST by thorshammer
March 30, 2005, 2:09PM
TOMBSTONE, Ariz. — Hundreds of volunteers, some of them armed, are expected to take up positions along the Mexican border Friday and begin patrolling for illegal immigrants — an exercise some fear could attract racist crackpots and lead to vigilante violence.
Organizers of the Minuteman Project said the civilian volunteers, many of whom were recruited over the Internet, will meet first for a rally in this one-time silver mining town, then fan out across 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley to watch the border for a month and report sightings of illegal activity to Border Patrol agents.
Minuteman field operations director Chris Simcox described the project as "the nation's largest neighborhood watch group" and said one of the goals is to make the public aware of how porous the border is.
Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant from Aliso Viejo, Calif., who organized the project, said that some volunteers will carry handguns, which is allowed under Arizona law, but are being instructed to avoid confrontation, even if shot at.
Still, law enforcement officials and human rights advocates are worried about the potential for bloodshed.
Critics contend the project may attract anti-immigrant racists and vigilantes looking to confront illegal immigrants. At least one white supremacist group has mentioned the project on its Web site.
"They are domestic terrorists that represent a danger to the country and could promote a major border conflict that will have serious ramifications and consequences," said Armando Navarro, a University of California-Riverside political science professor and coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights, made up mostly of Hispanic activists.
Michael Nicley, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector, said the volunteers are "not the kind of help the Border Patrol is asking for."
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said he fears immigrant smugglers might open fire on the volunteers.
"I wouldn't anticipate that people of that persuasion would act or react any differently to anybody, citizen or law enforcement alike, if they were confronted and felt like their cargo was in jeopardy," he said.
The project's organizers gave assurances the volunteers will be closely monitored. "If it gets to a situation where someone's life is in danger," said David Helppler, Minuteman security coordinator, "I will end the project."
Project organizers said they expect 800 to 1,000 volunteers. How many might actually show is unclear; similar efforts in the past few years flopped. One of them drew only about a half-dozen people.
The Homeland Security Department planned to announce today that is is assigning more than 500 additional patrol agents to the porous Arizona border to help keep out potential terrorists and illegal immigrants, The Associated Press learned.
About 155 agents will be immediately sent to Arizona, according to department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The 370-mile Arizona 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.
Some people in this town nearly 30 miles north of the Mexican border, best known as the site of the 1881 shootout at the OK Corral, are eagerly awaiting the volunteers' arrival.
Tombstone Mayor Andree De Journett thinks of the volunteers as tourists and said they could boost the local economy.
"I've met five or six of them, they haven't been too bad so far," he said, estimating that 500 extra visitors for a month could mean $10,000 or more spent locally.
Marilynn Slade, Tombstone's city clerk, said the more attention drawn to illegal immigration, the better.
"The vast majority of the people feel that the feds should be dealing more aggressively with the problem," she said. "There's a huge, huge cry down here."
If they're gonna do the job, maybe they should get the tools to do it right.
http://www.ibistek.com/cobra.asp
EVEN BETTER!
Oka-a-a-y...so they are tourorists. Hey Armando...keep your compadres south of the border and there won't be a conflict.
I predicted yesterday that this would become the crucible in which judicial activism, terrorism, and illegal immigration all come together: ("Jurists, Jumpers, and Jihadists") http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1373463/posts
Or play a Hillery speech in their direction. That could evavuate Mexicans to Central America.
Or play a Hillery speech in their direction. That could evacuate Mexicans to Central America.
Even illegals have watering stations set up for them.
I for one WELCOME our new Mexican Overlords... </sarcasm
Mexico better tighten up it's border security or this is going to get ugly.
Why is it always ramifications? Why not rhyzomations sometimes?
You seem right on target. Why do you think George Bush has failed to protect our borders? And why do you think he is so intent on pursuing his courtship with Vincente Fox? I, for one, am sick of it!
There. I fixed it.
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." --Samuel Adams
Many have lived and died for this country. Many more will live and die for this country. And I am sure that there are those who will take positive action to keep illegals out. Blood just may get spilt, but that's the price we pay for our freedom.
Just wait. The press and the government (Bush, Rice, Gonzales, etc.) are already setting this project up to fail.
To them it will fail when something with even the hint of violence happens.
They have done this by calling them "armed vigilantes" and saying let the professionals do their job.
When this project fails miserably in their eyes....*gasp* there will have to be a new law or something! After all, we can NEVER let this happen again.
Just watch.
"Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said he fears immigrant smugglers might open fire on the volunteers.'
So I guess we better let them enter because they might open fire.
Did he mean ILLEGAL immigrant smugglers or are the smugglers themselves legal immigrants?
Meanwhile in the Northeast TOPOFF 3 will demonstrate how prepared we are to respond to terrorism.
Although the MSM won't tell you, Sheriff Dever is squarely on the side of the MMP. Our meetings with him and his staff have been extensive and he is well aware of the problem here in Cochise County.
DING! We have a winner...
"Some"...more like 90%...makes for better ratings...
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