Minutemen headed here warned they, too, will be watched

Houston Chronicle ^ | July 9, 2005 | EDWARD HEGSTROM

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The local Catholic archbishop and immigrant rights activists want to roll up the welcome mat before the Minutemen arrive to patrol for illegal immigrants in Houston.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an organization working to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, announced this week that it would send observers to watch day laborers in Houston beginning in October. Previous plans called for placing patrols only along the Mexican border.

But Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza said the Minutemen would not be welcome in Houston.

"We stand against any attempts of outsiders to come into Houston to abuse and intimidate our immigrant communities," Fiorenza said in a statement issued Friday.

Separately, immigrant rights organizations announced that they would fight fire with fire by forming an organization to counteract the Minutemen.

"For every Minuteman patrolling, we will have at least 10 people patrolling them," said Maria Jimenez, a longtime local activist now associated with the Central American Resource Center, or CRECEN.

Jimenez and CRECEN leader Teodoro Aguiluz threatened to file a lawsuit if they observe the Minutemen doing anything illegal.

"We will respond to your organization with our organization," Jimenez said to the Minutemen. "We're not shy about it."

The advocates have called on the city to officially "disinvite" the Minutemen, but city leaders say that is unlikely. The mayor has said he does not see the need to pass an official resolution on the subject, and City Councilman Adrian Garcia said it would be hard to promote such a measure without mayoral support.

Jimenez estimated that there are 50 informal labor markets in Houston where day laborers gather looking for work from contractors. She said pro-immigrant groups would have at least 10 observers at each site.

One of the sites is just down the street from the CRECEN office, at the corner of Bellaire and Hillcroft, where dozens of workers gather every morning looking for work.

A city-funded day labor site is in the area, but the vast majority of workers prefer to seek work in the streets.

Some of those workers said Friday that they worry about the Minutemen.

"It's like racism," said one, who identified himself only as Juan. "All we want is a chance to survive."

Drawing some support

Business owners in the area say they might welcome some effort to get the day laborers off the streets.

"They mess up the surroundings with their trash, and they are very aggressive, which scares the customers," said Mohammed Uddin, an immigrant from Bangladesh who owns the Citgo station at Hillcroft and Bellaire. "It's bad for business."

Some of the immigrants say they worry about the potential for violence. At the CRECEN news conference, representatives noted that many Latin Americans have had bad experiences with vigilantes back home, and they drew direct parallels with the Minutemen.

"In the countries we come from, these groups outside the law are known as death squads" or paramilitaries, Aguiluz said.

But Bill Parmley, who heads the Minutemen in Texas, dismissed the comparison to Central American death squads as absurd.

"The only thing we're going to be carrying is a video camera," Parmley said. "That's the difference between their country and our country."

There were no reports of violence during the initial patrols the Minutemen held in Arizona last April. But some law officials have expressed a concern about the potential for vigilante violence.

The Minutemen in Texas originated out of a series of meetings this year in Goliad County, where landowners have become alarmed by the illegal immigrants being smuggled along the area's rural roads. Ranchers and other owners began holding meetings, and area law officers attended.

Bee County Sheriff Carlos Carrizales said he attended the first two meetings but stopped going after becoming concerned by the tone.

"During the second meeting, someone in the back shouted: 'Can't we just shoot 'em,' " in reference to illegal immigrants, Carrizales recalls. "Then others started to feed on that."

Checking backgrounds

Parmley concedes that the statement was made, but he disputes the sheriff's contention that others joined in. The Minuteman leader said those who want to join his organization must go through an extensive background check, which includes looking not only for criminal history but also for things like white-supremacist tendencies.

Parmley is the official Texas leader of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the group that was formed in Arizona. He said the campaign in Houston will be led by volunteers who live in Houston.

A separate group, which calls itself the Texas Minutemen, has been formed out of the Dallas area and plans to patrol near El Paso in October.

edward.hegstrom@chron.com

[judgeandjury]

Ah, but the term used to describe these misdemeanor violators was "invaders," as in a state of war between two nations.

It doesn't matter. It's the military's job to repel armed invaders trying to cross into the United States. Unless the military requests help from ordinary American citizens, we're supposed to stay out of the way and let the military do its job.

[TLI]

They (Quislings and foreign agents) just aren't capable of understanding that we don't necessarily have problems with Hispanics, as long as they are legally here.

OTOH, if they can differentiate, then they're just being liberal.

Sorry, can't but into that one. There comes a time when the sorry bastards are just wrong. If they persist, they are trators.

[TLI]

but = buy. Seems to kinda work both ways though.

[jmc813]

That is so gay.

So is using the word "Ah" in FR posts.

[Flyer]

See #33 for the links I mentioned in an FD message to you.

[backhoe]

Thanks- I'll take a look now.

[azhenfud]

"Those numbers have been steady for almost 2 decades. They have nothing to do with Bush's amnesty."

Can you give a specific reference to substantiate?

http://www.theamericanresistance.com/ref/illegal_alien_numbers.html

"Census figures show that 90 percent of illegal immigration comes from Latin America, with 70 percent of the total from Mexico."

[Marauder]

There comes a time when the sorry bastards are just wrong. If they persist, they are trators.

I don't think we're in disagreement whatsoever. What I said in so many words is that they're either stupid or traitorous, which IMHO pretty much defines liberalism overall.

[Travis McGee]

Some dimwits have the mistaken idea that only Normandy landing is an invasion. They should check out a few dictionaries.

Invasion: \In*va"sion\, n. [L. invasio: cf. F. invasion. See Invade.] [1913 Webster]

1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.

If 100 of Pancho Villa's armed marauders entered the USA for a few days, they would call that an invasion.

But if 10+ MILLION men of soldier age invaded the country and set up hostile enclaves, they would not call that an invasion!

At what point would they see the danger? 20 million men? 30 million men? When the invaders do take up arms, and declare their foreign enclaves to be independent of US law?

---

U.S. Constitution Article 4 Section 4:

"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,

and shall protect each of them against Invasion;"

---

[Pyro7480]

Yeah, do that and you can kiss the rest of your religious freedoms good bye.

[Eaker]

That is so gay.

I don't know how to take this comment.

Coming from you derision is expected as you are a member of the America Last group here on FR. However, since you probably are a fag, maybe it is a compliment.

Who knows?

[stevie_d_64]

Thank you Dr. Flyer...

I am free this afternoon after my morning appointments for a round at the club...

Is 1:30 good for you???

We can get either Gilligan or Cultural Jihad to caddy for us...

[dirtboy]

The mayor has said he does not see the need to pass an official resolution on the subject, and City Councilman Adrian Garcia said it would be hard to promote such a measure without mayoral support.

Let alone the minor problem of trying to prohibit someone from engaging in a lawful activity.

[Squantos]

Concrats on the minuteman status.........

[Eaker]

Thanks!

[Czar]

"It's pretty funny when Quislings and foreign agents say that patriotic americans who are trying to defend their sovereign nation are haters."

Actually, I find the FR quisling contingent to be rather pathetic. Nobody will ever confuse any of them with loyal American conservatives.

Have any of them as yet been willing to provide a yes or no answer to the very simple question I posed in #53?

[Fee]

This is why the GOP in the end will lose. Leftwing organizations use churches to expouse politics, and hide illegal aliens, and mosques to expouse jihad. And the GOP advocates no action even if the law allows for it. If conservatives uses a church for politics, the liberal government will send in the IRS, if the conservatives use the church as a sanctuary for fugitives, the liberals send in the BATF/FBI and M1 tanks, and if the conservatives use the church for a militant activity that preaches support for violence, I guarantee the left will use some legal law (including the new emiment domain) to shut it down. I say we should go on the offense, damn the pussy foot attitude, use the law as a weapon like they do to us. Rule number one in assymetric warfare, use the weapons furnished by your opponent. The irony will boost your morale and stun the opposition.

[Travis McGee]

From #53: "Loyal American conservatives believe in defending American sovereignty, protected and secure borders, and the preservation of American culture, customs, traditions and language. These are the values of loyal American conservatives. Are they yours?

Nope, the Quislings and false-flag-freepers will never answer that one!

[Czar]

"Nope, the Quislings and false-flag-freepers will never answer that one!"

And, so far, none of them have.

[Melas]

Here it is: Loyal American conservatives believe in defending American sovereignty, protected and secure borders, and the preservation of American culture, customs, traditions and language. These are the values of loyal American conservatives. Are they yours?

The quislings never provide a yes or no answer. They bob & weave, stonewall and deny, mount an attack which always features te race card, or simply disappear from the thread. Amazing how consistent their behavior is on this one simple question.

I'll address these 1 by 1, even though I doubt you'll address my responses with any intellectual honesty.

1) We can have national sovereignty and still have immigration. It's a smokescreen to attempt to frame the debate in such a way that the two seem mutally incompatible.

2) Cute how you frame the borders like a military issue. Our borders are protected. You aren't concerned with preventing a military invasion. No military force could get within a thousand miles of our borders without us knowing. You're not wanting to protect the borders against military invasion. You want to keep Juan on his side of the border which is a different thing altogether.

3)Which customs specifically do you think are threatened? I know you probably won't give specifics, but what the hell, I'm asking anyway.

4) Same question as above except which traditions? I'm assuming that since listed seperately, they have distinct and seperate meanings. Again, I'm not really expecting specifics, as it's been my experience that you guys just tend to get huffy and angry when asked for anything concrete.

5) I simply refute that loyalty to America has anything whatsoever to do with a dogged adherence to monolingualism. It's simply not the case.