No, they don't. They are here by breaking a law, if they get harmed it is because they were committing a crime and in it's commission were harmed. The only legal standing they have is to be prosecuted for being here illegally and any illegals with them are to be prosecuted for causing harm to which ever illegal was injured.
All, or almost all, states have laws that state that if injury is caused, including death, during th commission of a crime the perpetrators are guilty of the bodily injury up to and including murder.
Instead of being awarded a citizens property as a reward for committing a crime they should all ( however many there were) be in jail awaiting deportation.
So, by that logic, you can simply go to Los Angeles and shoot illegal immigrants, since they have no legal standing and are committing a crime by being on US soil. Is that what you're saying?
First off, you need to read the full article. It describes the situation in some detail.
Next, the "perpetrators," as you call them, had been captured and were being held. At that point, Mr. Nethercott should simply have called INS, and been done with it. At that point, there was no more crime being committed, but rather a group of citizens having done their civic duty. Nice job, fellas.
But apparently Mr. Nethercott wasn't content to stop there. Instead, he decided to pistol whip one of the guys -- which is assault, not "self defense" as you're trying to paint it. Even illegal immigrants have legal protection from assault, even if it's committed by an American citizen.
And then to top it all off, Nethercott and his pals didn't call the INS, but instead let the two fellows go!!!! Doesn't that make them accessories to a crime?
As usual, there's more to the story, and this time it's right in the linked article.
The legal question is whether the ranch owners had the legal right to do what they did to these illegals.
The fact that illegals are breaking the law does not give others the right to commit crimes and assaults against them.
The only legal standing they have is to be prosecuted for being here illegally and any illegals with them are to be prosecuted for causing harm to which ever illegal was injured.
You don't really understand how the law works.