[SwinneySwitch]

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

It's working!

[SwinneySwitch]

Minuteman Ping!

Please let me know if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.

[1FASTGLOCK45]

Whooo hooo! Alrighty then

[RedBloodedAmerican]

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

[John Thornton]

Agents are fuming over how much harder their jobs have become, she said.

And we all know what an outstanding job those agents have been doing over the past twenty years. How many tens of millions of illegals have slipped in under the noses of these hard-working agents?

[james500]

"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."


It must suck for Border Patrol agents to have to get up off their fat behinds and actually PATROL the BORDER. It's not just about wearing a cool uniform and mirrored sunglasses!

[Archon of the East]

Its got the attention of more than just the Illegals, it has the white house in an uncomfortable position, which on this issue is just fine by me. The attention it is getting is worth so much more than any practical success, IMO

[shebacal]

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.

Unless I am mistaken, the recent campaign by the Mexican government to dissuade crossings and the beefed-up Border Partol in Arizona HAVE ONLY COME ABOUT BECAUSE THE CITIZENS OF THE MINUTEMAN PROJECT ARE THERE AT THE BORDER.

[Migraine]

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

I think that "destroying evidence" whine is the lamest I've ever heard. What evidence? Litter, footprints? Come on! The only evidence you need is a living, breathing person who doesn't belong there. Good grief!
These bureaucrats just hate being shown up.

[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.

[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.

[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

[durasell]

It isn't effective in stopping crossings. Let's be honest about that aspect of it. As a form of protest, only time will tell.

[TLI]

:"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."

What a total load. I had BP agents pull up to meet my team as we came out of the trail at the end of the road on Hunters Canyon, ask what did we see, call it in and drive on. Took out word on what was up there, never questioned it. The rank and file agents were eating it up.

[kcvl]

Bouncing over the rough terrain in a four-wheel drive vehicle, Border Patrol Agent Andrea Zortman is excited to be a part of the effort. "Your adrenaline gets pumping. Everybody wants to get the dope [illegal drugs] load and everybody wants to get large groups of aliens. We are out in the brush and we see an inordinately huge amount of foot sign, we are going to get excited about going after that because finding them yourself and apprehending a group of 40 or so people by yourself is kind of exciting," says Ms. Zortman. "It makes you feel good."

snip

Andrea Zortman says she and other agents have rescued many immigrants who turned over their money to coyotes only to be left stranded in the searing heat of the desert. "If the smuggler feels that they are lagging behind the group or if the smuggler feels that they will not make it, that coyote will just leave them out here. He will just leave them," she says. "He will continue on with his group and so that person is left there in the middle of nowhere. They may not have water or food and they definitely do not know where they are. Sometimes a hunter will come across them or sometimes we will catch their group farther down the road and someone in that group will let us know that they left a person in distress out there."

snip

Agents in the field carry extra water and first aid supplies, but for serious cases they call on the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue teams, known as BORSTAR. These teams include trained paramedics and can use intravenous injections of fluid in cases of severe dehydration. The next three months are the hottest and deadliest for immigrants here.

snip

"For the most part, if they are just coming across to visit their family or get a job and a better life, they will try a couple of times and then we will not see them anymore. But if they are a coyote or smuggler, those are the ones who obviously have been crossing multiple times and so we get them into the station and look them up in the computer system," says Ms. Zortman. "If they have been caught multiple times pretty much around the same area and each time they are with completely different people than the time before that is usually a telltale sign that they are the guide or smuggler."

Human smugglers are often as sinister and dangerous as drug traffickers. They usually lend the immigrants the money they charge for the trip -- around several hundred dollars for each immigrant -- and then extract payment from family members back home. Much of the estimated $12 billion in remittances sent home by Mexican immigrants each year may be going to smugglers.

http://tinyurl.com/5asum

[kcvl]

Ray Ybarra, organizer of the ACLU observation, said so far there hasn't been any interaction between the minutemen and migrants. However, he said there are still concerns, as news media attention fades.

"I'm not trying to demonize people and call them all evil racists; it's definitely a fear and concern," Ybarra said. "I hope it's a real fear and concern of the volunteers as well. The border road looks like a smorgasbord for white supremacists to come and recruit."

snip

Ybarra says it's unfortunate the minutemen have gotten so much attention, when hundreds of people die crossing the border every year.

"The real focus should be on the needless suffering and death," he said.

http://tinyurl.com/4aa7w