Posted on 09/30/2005 4:05:08 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
Minutemen step up Mexican border patrol
Sep 30 1:16 PM US/Eastern
By Tim Gaynor
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. militia group will launch a month-long sweep for illegal immigrants along the border with Mexico this weekend, stepping up a campaign that has raised fears of violence.
Volunteers plan to gather at seven sites between San Diego, California, and Brownsville, Texas, throughout October to scour the deserts for illegal immigrants and report them to the U.S. Border Patrol so they can be arrested.
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps began their controversial patrols in Arizona in April and spin-off groups later held similar operations in California.
Now, for the first time, the Minutemen are taking their protest to all four U.S. states along the porous 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border with Mexico beginning on Saturday.
The Minutemen, who take their name from an American Revolution militia, are keeping the specific locations secret for fear they might attract protesters, who clashed with breakaway militia patrols in California.
"It is being very tightly controlled this time because the opposition has blatantly said that they are going to direct violence at our volunteers," Minuteman founder Chris Simcox told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"Our patrols will be held on private ranch land ... Our volunteers have been well-trained and know how to deal with protesters if they do get near us and will report them to local law enforcement," he added.
In July, protesters scuffled with breakaway California Minutemen volunteers in Campo, a border town southeast of San Diego.
Some of the Minutemen were armed. U.S. President George W. Bush has called them "vigilantes" and Mexico's government dubbed the group "migrant hunters."
The Minutemen insist they are simply filling a gap in U.S. law enforcement and drawing attention to the government's failure to secure U.S. land borders.
"We will be going home when the government sends troops or the National Guard to secure the border," Simcox said. "Until then, the patrols will continue."
While most of their attention is focused on the frontier with Mexico, which millions of immigrants cross illegally every year, they also plan vigils in areas on the Canadian border.
GROWING OPPOSITION
The growth of the Minuteman patrols has stirred stiff opposition among Latino activists and many residents in towns and cities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The California-based Brown Berets, a Mexican-American group that was allied with the revolutionary U.S. Black Panther Party in the 1960s, has vowed to confront the Minuteman volunteers during their October vigil.
An Arizona rights group, the Border Action Network, distributed posters to stores in Naco, Douglas and Nogales on the Mexican border this week, declaring the communities "hate-free zones" and saying "racist vigilantes" are unwelcome.
In Texas earlier this year, 11 state senators urged Gov. Rick Perry to oppose the Minuteman patrols, saying they could "negatively affect tourism and trade along the border" and make law enforcement "more dangerous and difficult."
In the sweltering border city of Brownsville, a court this month passed a resolution opposing the presence of "Minutemen or other vigilante groups" along a stretch of the Rio Grande in Cameron County.
The volunteers range from retired servicemen and off-duty law enforcement officers to businessmen and office workers.
All the king's men won't be able to stop the MinuteMen . .
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In Texas earlier this year, 11 state senators urged Gov. Rick Perry to oppose the Minuteman patrols, saying they could "negatively affect tourism and trade along the border" and make law enforcement "more dangerous and difficult."
Viva la Minutemen!
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The growth of the Minuteman patrols has stirred stiff opposition among Latino activists and many residents in towns and cities along the U.S.-Mexico border.The California-based Brown Berets, a Mexican-American group that was allied with the revolutionary U.S. Black Panther Party in the 1960s, has vowed to confront the Minuteman volunteers during their October vigil.
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"Go back to Boston! Go back to Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future. You are old and tired. Go on. We have beaten you. Leave like beaten rats. You old white people. It is your duty to die. .. Through love of having children, we are going to take over."
~ Augustin Cebeda, of the 'Brown Berets', a militant Aztlan group at a violent rally in Los Angeles on July 4, 2000.
They probably won't see much action in the north but it does need attention due to the fact that Canada allows terrorists to live there.
The growth of the Minuteman patrols has stirred stiff opposition among Latino activists and many residents in towns and cities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Well, yeah, the very idea of patriotic Americans trying to defend their country against ILLEGAL MEXICANS. How, how, uh, ... UNLIBERAL !!!!
Yeah, I remember that all too well.
JIM GILCHREST FOR CONGRESS!
He he ....
As soon as the WGC is done at Harding Park (10th)...my rig is heading for the border...
I will join the minutemen...
Can't wait...bought new optics, thermal imaging, night vision...preped my rig for extended stays...plan on 20+ days through the end of the month.
BUSH has failed.
Step aside GW...the patriots will take care of business for you...
bttt
Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist is considering running for Congress!President Bush has just appointed Congressman Chris Cox (R-California) to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This leaves an important vacancy in Congress for California’s 48 th Congressional District!
Gov. Schwarzenegger is required to set a special election date within two weeks of the appointment.
If ever there were a time to support a fellow Minuteman, it is now!
Jim is seriously considering running for this seat. And, if he wins, he’ll take the fight to protect our borders straight to the President with REAL border security legislation!
California’s 48 th Congressional District sits squarely in Republican Orange County with over 50% registered Republicans!
The problem is Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Bush Administration have already anointed their “establishment candidate”--even before the announcement! California State Senator John Campbell is soft on immigration. And, this precisely what the governor and the president want.
We cannot afford to have another congressman in DC who is willing to sellout our country’s national security for party gain!
That’s why we need Jim in Congress!
Jim isn’t just a volunteer and Minuteman. He’s a former Marine and Vietnam veteran. He’s a businessman with an MBA and an experienced tax accountant. And, he’s a former reporter with years of media experience.
Jim is the perfect man for the job!
Yes, how dare these Minutemen try to enforce the law! There should be massive corruption in the US just like in Mexico! Unreal. Maybe these Brown berets should consider protesting Senior Fox for once, or maybe they don`t have the nuts to do that? Yes, let`s all act like the French and immediately surrender and run away.
I don`t know why random landmines on the border aren`t considered. It would stop or slow down this invasion, and it is an invasion, pretty damn quick. "PELIGRO!!TIERRA BOMBA!"
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