Minuteman project: Big help or big pain?

San Anyonio Express-News ^ | 04/10/2005 | Hernán Rozemberg

[SwinneySwitch]

RANCHO LA MORITA, Mexico — Following the 28-hour bus ride, they trekked for eight hours in the prickly, barren desert until they were 150 yards from the border: a rickety fence comprising four worn strings of barbed wire.

On the other side, the United States.

Tantalizingly close to their intended destination, the 10 friends from a village in central Mexico stopped. They could see something was happening on the American side. There were SUVs. There were men, too.

"You won't be able to get through," Héctor Salazar, an agent with Grupo Beta, Mexico's migrant-aid agency, warned the travelers. "There are dangerous people with guns out there. The best thing you can do is turn around and go home."

Giving the border fence one last look, the group of friends reluctantly mounted an orange pickup. And then they headed back to a town across the border from Douglas, Ariz.

Score one for the Minuteman Project. The ragtag and controversial collection of volunteers has descended on the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona to become temporary de facto border guards.

Last week, hundreds of them — some armed — were expected to begin patrolling Arizona border areas for undocumented immigrants, an exercise some fear could attract racist crackpots and lead to violence.

Jim Gilchrist, a former accountant from southern California who organized the project, said more than 1,500 people registered initially but fewer than 500 showed up. (Critics have said the volunteer counts are exaggerated. Gilchrist and other organizers have refused to reveal the registration list, citing participants' privacy.)

By the end of the week, 380 volunteers remained, but replacements were expected, Gilchrist said.

Some had taken extended leaves from work to watch the border, working 8-hour shifts at designated posts along a 23-mile stretch of it.

Many participants weren't talking much about immigration. What mattered most to them, they said, was stopping terrorists from getting in.

While several of them accused undocumented immigrants of ruining the U.S. language and culture by failing to assimilate, they insisted their actions had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.

"This has nothing to do with Mexicans," burly Houstonian William Breaux said as he stood on the bed of his pickup, overlooking a popular migrant-crossing trail.

But he added: "What gets me is that everybody thinks it's pitiful, poor peons that just want to work. Excuse me, they're raping and murdering Americans."

Organizers of the Minuteman Project said the civilian volunteers will watch the border for a month and report sightings of illegal activity to Border Patrol. Depending on their success, other civilian border patrol efforts are planned elsewhere, including in South Texas.

Organizers in Arizona hope eventually to have volunteers watching 45 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Volunteers have been instructed not to interact with crossers but to report sightings to the Border Patrol.

Andrea Zortman, a Border Patrol spokeswoman in Naco, said the Minuteman Project has been an unwelcome hindrance. Civilians are putting themselves in danger, setting off motion sensors on the ground and "destroying evidence" by walking along popular migrant-crossing trails.

Claims that most rank-and-file agents privately welcomed the outside help are a lie, Zortman said. Agents are fuming over how much harder their jobs have become, she said.

Regardless whether they win massive approval, organizers Gilchrist and Chris Simcox have been able to produce arguably the largest non-government border-protection mobilization in recent memory.

Success or not?

The Minutemen — named for the American colonial volunteer army that was ready to assemble at a moment's notice to fight the British — launched their mission April 1 in Tombstone, the Arizona town famous for Wild West shoot-outs. It took less than a week for project participants to claim success; they were able to draw national and international attention to border-security issues. The event received extensive coverage by news media. Satellite TV trucks filled parking lots and lined the streets of Tombstone.

Organizers said the project already was deterring crossers or sending them to other border areas.

The Border Patrol, which steadfastly opposes the Minuteman Project, acknowledged undocumented migrant traffic along this stretch of the border has slowed significantly since the project's inception. During the first week of April last year, 7,143 illegal crossers were arrested in the Naco-Douglas area, the agency reported. In the same period this year agents stopped just 2,951 migrants, a 59 percent decrease.

But some crossers may have detoured toward western Arizona, which so far this month has seen a 23 percent increase in arrests.

The Border Patrol was quick to dismiss the notion that the Minuteman Project is the reason for dwindling migrant traffic in some areas. Early indicators suggest a recent campaign by the Mexican government to dissuade crossings and a beefed-up Border Patrol in Arizona have been mainly responsible for the slowdown, Zortman said.

Two days before the project was launched, the Border Patrol announced that 500 additional agents would be dispatched to Arizona by the summer.

Project volunteers and Border Patrol agents weren't only separately and simultaneously watching for illegal crossers, but they also were monitoring one another.

Meanwhile, Grupo Beta received two extra agents and has focused its rounds on the border area patrolled by Minuteman volunteers.

The migrant-aid agency, which helped turn back 853 migrants from the area, also has received assistance from 44 state police officers as well as the 12-man roving military unit based in the region, said Bertha de la Rosa Carrizales, who runs Grupo Beta's regional office in Agua Prieta.

Then there were the civil-right advocates. Members of the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union., fearing potential civil rights violations, also had dispatched members to observe the citizen patrols. Some wore bright yellow "ACLU Observer" T-shirts.

Volunteer observers, 140 strong, also roamed the dusty Border Road between Naco and Douglas, some taking posts not too far from the designated Minutemen stations.

"It's kind of turned into a movement of its own," said Ray Ybarra, an ACLU representative in Douglas.

That movement is playing out in a mostly desolate, mostly state-owned part of Arizona. What little private land there is mostly is owned by ranchers.

Fred and Robyn Giacoletti own an 800-acre ranch on Border Road in Bisbee Junction that has been in the family for more than a century. As many as 300 migrants traverse their land every day on their way north, they said.

Until now.

Minuteman volunteers have allowed them to finally get a good night's sleep, the Giacolettis said.

"It's unbelievable," Robyn Giacoletti said. "For the first time in 17 years, the dogs haven't been barking all night long. It's been wonderful."

Though many Minuteman volunteers say they understand the plight of undocumented migrants, noting that they, too, would do anything to feed their families, they maintain laws must be respected — including those that govern border crossings.

Curt Stewart said he made the 900-mile drive from his Hill Country home to the Arizona border to let the country's leaders know they'd turned their back on concerned citizens.

"When Bush made it clear that he intended to give illegal aliens a free ride, I knew I had to do something," Stewart said. "Obviously, I wasn't the only one feeling that way."

Disorganized effort

By the organizers' own admission, the first day was utterly chaotic. The schedule was rearranged several times and there seemed to be more journalists than volunteers.

The bare-bones "command center" was a nondescript dormitory room rented from a nearly defunct Bible college with two computers equipped with mapping software and two ham radios.

"What did you expect?" asked project spokesman Mike McGarry. "We're all amateurs. We've never done this before."

On the overnight shift five miles from the border in Palominas, an area said to be dangerous because of heavy drug smuggling, volunteers trained on the job.

After arriving and figuring out who would take charge, they spent an hour mulling over their strategy and frantically trying to synchronize radios bought at nearby Wal-Mart and Kmart stores. The chosen team leader, a weary-looking Nebraskan, decided to sit on his lawn chair and let others take up hideout spots further up the gravel trail.

"I don't really know how to operate this thing," he muttered to himself as he fidgeted with a walkie-talkie.

Later he apologized profusely to three Border Patrol agents who showed up after receiving a call of migrants spotted in the area. False alarm.

Then, a rumor: Members of the vicious, Los Angeles-based Mara Salvatrucha street gang had threatened to attack the volunteers.

It never happened.

Some volunteers say the mission has had an air of paranoia attributable to unfamiliarity with the area. Most here never had been to the border before and had little knowledge of its volatile nature.

It was a phenomenon that Kerry Morales quickly sized up. The South Texas rancher has seen migrants crossing through her land for more than a decade. She's been threatened often and once nearly strangled, she said.

Unlike many of her counterparts, she never believed the rumored threat of a gang attack.

"Many people are already naturally wound-up," Morales said during a night shift. "And then fear breeds more fear. Rumors start flying, and they feed on each other."

Project organizers say they told three volunteers to leave because they brandished rifles; though they can carry guns, they're not allowed to take them out.

Another resigned for violating the no-contact policy. He fed one migrant, then had him pose for a picture holding a T-shirt that read, "Bryan Barton caught an illegal immigrant and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

Meanwhile, at the main bus terminal in Agua Prieta, Mexico, Moisés Garcia had heard enough tales of the vigilantes to realize he wouldn't make it across the border.

"I thought I had enough to worry with the Border Patrol. Now with these other armed people out there, it's just too much."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- hrozemberg@express-news.net

[HiJinx]

From the article:

Fred and Robyn Giacoletti own an 800-acre ranch on Border Road in Bisbee Junction that has been in the family for more than a century. As many as 300 migrants traverse their land every day on their way north, they said.

Until now.

Minuteman volunteers have allowed them to finally get a good night's sleep, the Giacolettis said.

"It's unbelievable," Robyn Giacoletti said. "For the first time in 17 years, the dogs haven't been barking all night long. It's been wonderful."

Well, Spiff, in case anyone was wondering...there's confirmation for the e-mail you posted.

[ol' hoghead]

Border Patrol agents... have to get up off their fat behinds and actually PATROL the BORDER.

I'd rather have the BP doing something in AZ than hassling me about nothing on highway 90 in S. Tex.

[MoJo2001]

Our sovereignty continues to be trampled on and yet our government does nothing.

Comforting, huh?

[HiJinx]

James, my man, you need to educate yourself. Do a keyword search on 'Aliens' and check out the firsthand reports from the Minutemen and Minutewomen who are there on that dusty border road.

They tell a totally different story...Andrea Zortman is the one who is lying through her teeth.

If you want to be angry about BP personnel, direct your anger at the right level - aim high.

[HiJinx]

Comforting, huh?

Well, don't just sit there slacking. Make your elected representatives uncomfortable!

[occutegirl]

Fox of Mexico does nothing to break up "Grupo Beta"??


They got Fox's employees of the month award.

[B4Ranch]

The Minutemen are showing us not only how to seal our borders and protect our national security, they are demonstrating how we, the people, can take back our country from the political establishment.

Which fence would you rather cross if you were sneaking past the Border patrol?
Lets make the Ports of Entry the choice of everyone coming to America.

Some questions and ideas for you to think about.
What do you think would happen if a popular football or other sports star was to start off the project by donating 5 or 25 million dollars to build fences on private property that adjoins the border?

Then a few more sport stars each throw in a couple of million of their own money while asking all "True Americans" to send just one hours wages to the FENCE FUND?

Do you think that the politicians would be able to stop this from growing out of control and the voters demanding that the Feds "fence our land"?

Do you think the politicians would listen or ignore a million calls a day to their offices?

Never underestimate what the American people can do when they decide they want to do it.

While I'm at it, we could start a "Name and Shame List" of companies that hire illegals. Name the banks that loan money to a tax number when the illegal doesn't have a phony Social Security number. Name the mortgage companies that favor home loans to illegals, using our money for their downpayment.

If you have ideas or questions, throw them in the pot here. I'm sure there's FReeper who can answer most of the questions or critique your ideas.

Do you have any ideas on how to get this started?

We need to keep the fire burning while the media is watching and reporting.

[Eagles6]

"Mexico's migrant-aid agency, warned the travelers."

I think it's a government agency.

[archy]

Which fence would you rather cross if you were sneaking past the Border patrol?

Having pulled four tours on the Iron Curtain in the Rotz-Weiden sector of the [then] West German border in the 1960s, I'd prefer we have a 5KM zone, as the Germans did, backed up with both a border patrol [Bundesgrenzschutz AND a military presence as needed.

I was fond of their border patrol vehicles, too. The ones with the 20mm cannon were particularly well suited for the job.

[Eagles6]

What really burns me is the arrogance of Fox and accomplices. Didn't we bail out mexico to the tune of 40 BILLION dollars in 1982? They have all the makings of a first world country but due to endemic corruption they can't even provide running water to the populace. I imagine that oil is the only reason that GW puts up with this crap.

[Tactical]

I've worked with hundreds of Border Patrol Agents in the field, since way back in 1972. No I'm not a BP Agent, but I can say the Yuma and El Centro Sectors are a bunch of hard working troops.

Those dudes will park their patrol vehicles, and pick up a trail of illegals and start walking out into the middle of nowhere, tracking them down. While one or two of them are doing that, other Agents are coming at the illegals from the opposite direction on foot, or staked out in the vehicles.

They come to work all spit shined, and in less than an hour, they are covered from head to toe in sand and and sweated out uniforms. These guys don't sit around on their butts, they bust their butts. On top of that, they make themselves available to support local agencies, that are handling a major call and need backup. They've helped me and the people I worked with hundreds of times.

It's hard , physically demanding work, but they are out there in 115 degree plus heat, all day or in the cold-assed desert nights.

Management, may have their remarks dictated to them by the Washington higher ups, but the guys in the field have their own. Before I'd ever consider putting them into the same group as the BP's management, I'd like to hear what the BP agents association has to say in behalf of the actual agents.

My guess is that the Minutemen Project may be setting off a few sensors, but the BP Agents know where they have their camps setup and ignore those sensors, knowing the Minutemen people will call and report something in the area. So the Minutemen are actually saving the BP from having to respond to a rabbit setting off a sensor.

As far as evidence being destroyed, the Minutemen may walk over tracks left by illegals, but it's not all that hard to pick the tracks up again alittle farther out. And, it wouldn't surprise me if the BP agents, just ask the Minutemen people to not walk in the drag areas, so the BP can get a good look at shoe designs and sizes.

How hard is that for each to work together? Not very!

So hang on guys, don't bitch the agents, they are caught in the middle of all of this. It's the staff management that bears watching.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[henderson field]

The agents don't want to be supervised. They don't want to be accountable. They just want to shirk their responsibilities and be left alone. Some of the Border Patrol are taking bribes from illegal migrants. The Minutemen are changing all of this. That's why they are not welcome by the Border Patrol. It is a corrupt organization full of corrupt people. The Border Patrol is "working" for itself. The Minutemen are working for everyone in America.

[janetgreen]

I imagine that oil is the only reason that GW puts up with this crap.

I imagine he has been given MANY shares of Pemex to sell America out.

[rpgdfmx]

So this agency aids illegal immigration??? Unbelievable No... that agency assists people lost in the desert, and tries to convince them NOT to cross the border. Leaving your own country isn't against the law anywhere except maybe North Korea or Cuba. Grupo Beta is mostly a "search and rescue" squad, more paramedics than cops.

[USMC Veteran]

Last week, hundreds of them — some armed — were expected to begin patrolling Arizona border areas for undocumented immigrants, an exercise some fear could attract racist crackpots and lead to violence.

Why does every article I read use the same catch phrase, 'some armed'? The ones that are, do so legally. They are properly trained in gun safety. Many are former military or police. Then, they use the term undocumented. Every federal law dealing with immigration uses the term 'illegal alien'. 'Undocumented' is an attempt to sanitize a politically charged situation. As for the racists, if they're found, they must be made to leave the area. If they do harm, they must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

[Nitro]

This is easy, big help to Americans........

big pain to liberals.

I have said it before and I will say it right now....

America was born with a gun in her hand and she will die if it is taken away!!!

[Navy Patriot]

Yes, it's working, but more than that it is getting more attention focused on the problem.

[spodefly]

BTTT

[Ajnin]

There's a lot of us that take a lot of sh*t to do what the taxpayers pay us to do. Why don't you get off your fat ass and join the Minute Men.

[Americanexpat]

Thank you. You can´t color the everybody in an organization with the same brush.

And yes, I support the MM program so don´t start your gripin.