Posted on 04/01/2005 9:57:43 PM PST by Coleus
Tombstone at the eye of Minuteman storm
TOMBSTONE - A Minuteman volunteer roams the streets in this town, the Colt .45 on his hip as much for show as anything. His shirt is stenciled, "Undocumented Border Patrol Agent."
At any given moment, reporters descend on him for interviews with an actual Minuteman Project volunteer. He doesn't mind; he's proud of what he's doing, he says.
Protesters in Tucson gather pots and pans to bang in protest of today's 1,000-strong Minuteman Project, a protest of the current state of border enforcement, in a "show of solidarity" with the illegal entrants who cross the border.
Also in Tucson, Robert Fritz is finishing up some lawyer business to come to Tombstone to join the Minuteman Project, while in the Whetstone Mountains northwest of Tombstone, Larry Dempster watches the gathering crowds with a jaundiced eye and wonders who's going to fix the fences illegal entrants cut recently.
State legislators and legal observers are expected to arrive from Phoenix and Tucson, while across the border in Naco, Sonora, Sergio Sanchez received a warning from Grupo Beta, Mexico's border safety force, that protesters may try to thwart his attempt to cross illegally into the United States.
It's an expected gathering that has gotten so much attention that even Presidents Bush and Vicente Fox weighed in, calling the group of protesters "immigrant hunters" and "vigilantes."
Fritz thinks differently.
"My frustrations are with the county and the state and the federal government that anybody who wants to step up as a citizen gets put down as a vigilante," he says.
"The people that are involved with this, they don't want anybody hurt out in the desert."
Tom Dushane, sporting his .45 six-shooter, agrees, saying he's simply tired of illegal entrants coming across the border.
On Monday, Border Patrol agents arrested about 800 people in the Cochise County area, said Tucson Sector spokesman Rob Daniels. Nobody knows how many got away.
"We're mainly trying to get the message to President Bush," Dushane says. "We need to close our borders."
But the message has also gone as far as Santa Cruz County, where Sheriff Tony Estrada says he's received tips the Minuteman Project will have volunteers posted in Nogales, Ariz.
"We're anxiously awaiting their arrival," he says.
Whether they show in Nogales remains to be seen. Organizers Chris Simcox and James Gilchrist weren't available for interviews Thursday.
Earth First activists will participate in a protest outside Schieffelin Hall on Arizona 80 in Tombstone, joining a gathering of people banging wooden spoons on empty pots as Minuteman organizers give speeches inside, says protest organizer Jonathan Shapiro.
The drumming is a show of solidarity with the entrants who'll be running the gantlet of Minuteman volunteers to work in this country, he said.
Other groups like Tucson-based Derechos Humanos plan unity events like a "Women in Black" vigil to protest the Minuteman Project.
If there are already Minuteman volunteers in town, they're keeping a low profile, says Mayor Andree Dejournett. The media sure aren't. There were at least 30 reporters, photographers and camera crews in Tombstone Thursday. At times it's hard to tell who's who with all the tourists. Both wear sophisticated cameras around their necks.
The town is full, though it's hard to tell if it's for the Minuteman Project or the weekend's car show, Dejournett said.
With only 260 rooms available in town, every room is taken, he said.
"We get 500,000 tourists every year. They might boost the number by 500, 1,000, who knows," he said. But right now, he supports their freedom to gather and protest, and if they don't break the law there's nothing more to say, he said. "I'm waiting just like everybody else is."
There's no vacancy at the Larian Motel, and owner Gordon Anderson likes it that way.
Nobody who registered for a room said they were here to protest the open border, he said.
If they are, they're more than welcome, he says. "They're just trying to do something for their country."
Maybe, but their motives still are not known, said Tombstone resident John Dorenzo, working a hot-dog stand on a street corner. "You don't know what their agenda is - are they sick of the government or are they just trying to get some publicity?"
Rancher Dempster wonders the same thing.
"We're going to have observers watching the observers, the Mexican government complaining, the press, legislators with 'Mexican accents' - where do my cows come in? How much feed are all these people going to tromp down?"
Told they won't be anywhere near his property, he chuckled. "That's good because none of it's going to do a bit of good."
But just the news that the Minutemen are coming was enough to make Sergio Sanchez worry about his plans to cross the border on the way to Florida. There's no work in Mexico to feed his two daughters and his wife, he said. But the Minuteman Project scares him because Mexican agents warned him Vietnam vets with an ax to grind would be trying to stop him.
"I'm still going to cross," he says. "What choice do I have? I need to work."
Yep, "SHALL"!
Bingo Dale! You can certainly tell what people's agenda is on this issue. I saw the dingo post above.
"I got two guns, one for each of ya"
We do need to stop all illegals, but we have to be prudent about how many and which non-citizens to let in.
No culture can withstand huge movements of people over a short period of time. Both cultures will suffer.
The real solution is to make Mexico fix its own economy so we can be equal trading partners.
Of course, and this is the reason for Bush's low profile (if there is any profile at all) in regards to border control. Any move he makes will make martyrs of the illegals. The passage of prop 187 (whinch passed with a two thirds margin) was successfully used to make martyrs of the hispanics in CA and the result is that republicans don't compete for electoral votes there. This martyr issue is a potential big effect if the press can get the public against the Undocumented Border Patrol.
And I would add that changing the tax law to one that operated on sales tax would snare the wages in tax owed from these workers who work off the books and send cash back to families in Mexico where they boost the Mexican economy and likely pay taxes on the cash to the Mexican government. They should be introduced to the IRS as well as the ICE. It would help to pay for the trashing that they are doing.
Poll data???
Who do you think is paying all of these illegal aliens to work here? The democrats? THE SAME PEOPLE THAT ANSWER "HELL NO" when a pollster calls to ask if they support illegal immigration. The same people that "understand" illegal immigration is not in their best interests. At least, they understand it's not in your best interest.
Nobody likes illegal aliens, until you need your friggin house painted.
If you're prinicipled enough to say, "yes, give me the American citizen (painters/toilet scrubbers/tomato pickers/landscapers) , and I'll be happy to pay them 5 times what the illegal ones cost", then good for you and you're well on your way to solving our problem.
I would start with a local dept. of labor, they may have some kind of tip line.
Most local/state governments have some sort of employment fraud prevention policy, although I'm sure results vary.
"Shall" as in "must," or Shall as in "some time in the distant future?
where are the earps to keep some law and order.
Absolutely agree.
Gosh I wish I had your gift of clairvoyance. Then I would understand that when 60 to 80% of Americans said they wanted the illegals gone that what they were really saying was please send more. /sarc
I also believe these advocate's actions merit a revival of the House Un-American Activities Committee. While we don't need a stringent standard of what's American and what's not, too many groups are running roughshod over all of our basic principals and indulging in outright betrayal. It's far past time that these vermin be called to the carpet of the judicial process. Allow me to submit C.A.I.R., A.C.L.U., and L.U.L.A.C. for starters.
Couldn't agree more. These seditious outfits need to be hauled in before the House and be held accountable their subversive activities.
Close - what they're really saying is, send the illegals home - right after they finish dusting my living room.
must
Seems clear to me.
"I'll be happy to pay them 5 times what the illegal ones cost", then good for you and you're well on your way to solving our problem."
There's no need to do that, the illegals make as much as americans do in any given trade. The difference is that the illegal is getting paid in cash with the payroll deductions made from it and the "contractor" is pocketing the SS, Medicare, etc. and not paying comp insurance. The contractors need to be locked up and fined heavilly!
mmarizco@azstarnet.com
Does not surprise me, anyone remember the Tuscon Ring?
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