Minutemen finish border fence on a Palominas ranch

BISBEE - Eight months after breaking ground on a 10-mile stretch of border fencing at the Palominas ranch of John and Jack Ladd, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps says it has completed the project.

Officials with the civilian border watch group report that a team of volunteers finished the final 7 1/2-mile length of five-strand barbed wire fencing on Sunday after working 20 consecutive days on the effort. Volunteers and a hired contractor completed the first 2 1/2 miles of fencing in July after beginning work in late May.

According to Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteer and Palominas resident Connie Foust, 36 people from states as far away as New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin donated a total of 1,400 hours of time to constructing the final segment of fence.

Aside from cold weather and some occasional heckling from the south side of the border, Foust said, construction went relatively smoothly.

Foust, who has been active on border issues for the past three years, said she joined the fence-building effort out of a concern for national security.

"People want to make it a race issue, but it's not," she said. "I believe there's a legal way to come to the United States, and anyone is welcome legally."

The range fence, however, was not the barrier the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps had initially hoped to build at the ranch. But the Ladds nixed the group's plan for a 14-foot high, double-layered security barrier, saying that while they agreed with the Minutemen's stance against illegal immigration, they preferred a smaller range fence that would keep their cattle secure.

Asked if the just-completed fence had advanced his group's goal of promoting greater border security, Al Garza, the Minuteman national executive director, said: "Not 100 percent, but at least partially."

"If (John Ladd) wants to add to it, or if he wants to restructure things, obviously we'll be prepared to engage in that," Garza said.

Last fall, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps broke ground on a second fence project about four miles east of Naco at the border ranch of Richard Hodges. And while Hodges said he, too, was principally concerned with the safety of his cattle, he gave the group permission to build their large-scale, double-layered barrier on his land.

When completed, the barrier is expected to cost about $650,000 and cover nine-tenths of a mile of Hodges' borderfront property.

Garza said he expects the structure to be completed in March or April. Garza was not immediately certain how much money had been raised to build the Ladd's fence. Once Hodges' fence is completed, Garza said, the Minutemen will continue building border barriers on private land as long as the need - and the flow of donations - continues.

"Our project is ongoing until we are completely relieved of our duties by our federal government," he said. "And that includes a fence equivalent to what we're doing."

I received a call over this last weekend from Connie on the Arizona – Mexico Border, where Minuteman Volunteers are building fence. It was a brisk 35 degree day in Arizona with a 30 mile per hour wind—making it even colder while a little snow continued to fall.

Out in the harsh weather a small band of dedicated Minuteman Volunteers, led by our coordinators Bill and Connie, were working on the final section of 10 miles of new fence.

This span was completed on Sunday, a testament to the integrity and dedication of American patriots who hold our nation dear.

Our fence has already reduced illegal crossings by 60%, and stopped all occurrences of high speed drug running along this heavily violated section of the border near Palominas, AZ. Despite what the politicians may say, fences work!

Minutemen will continue to lead the way in getting affordable and effective fencing built, but more donations are imperative for us to continue. We can only install as much fencing as we have funds to do the job. Phase 2 continues at the cost of $250/foot, to build a multi-level gauntlet of security at the border proven to deter illegal aliens. With the first phase completed and Phase 2 under way, your help is urgently needed to replenish our funding and enable us to continue this monumental effort.

Decades ago, President Ronald Reagan said, “This country has lost control of its borders. And no country can sustain that kind of position.”

This warning addresses a far greater border crisis today than when our President in good faith with the Congress attempted an amnesty in the 1980s, in hopes it would stem the tide of alien invasion. The results of federal legislation passed in 1986, and subsequent border and immigration policies, are a national security and public safety disaster. Send your support now to build the Minuteman Border Fence and show our government what it means to TRULY secure the border against events such as Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Join your fellow American citizens who say “Never Again!” We the people must be vigilant and prepared, and our national territory must be defended!

Your country needs you now! We Minutemen and women need you now! If you are one of the thousands who have already contributed to building the Minuteman Fence, we thank you for your sacrifice—but we need you if possible to redouble your efforts and donate again. If you have never donated we ask you to join us by making a generous financial contribution AND by becoming a Minuteman Volunteer.

Our volunteers answered the call and came from states all over the country—including New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota, New York, Wisconsin, Idaho, California and Colorado to work long, hard days, 5 days a week to complete the first phase of the border fence partnered with private ranch owners, and promised by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. Phase two has already started just a little to the east.

Some had said they did not believe anything the Minutemen could do would make a difference. It had been said by some about the plan to build any Minuteman Border Fence that it was “folly” and “fantasy.” Yet Chris Simcox and Minuteman Volunteers broke ground May 2006 to construct real border fencing, and show the feds how it could get done—since the U.S. government would not do its job and secure the border.

On Sunday 1/28/2007 Phase 1 of the promised Minuteman Border Fence was completed. Phase 2 is already underway. Our thanks to each and every one of those patriot Volunteers who have given of themselves, their time and their donations to finish the crucial first part of this enormous national challenge.

We still have much to do. There is more private land being offered to the Minuteman Corps to build fence on than we presently can afford to fund for construction. We cannot do it alone—we urgently need your donation TODAY to keep our Volunteers and workers going. Until the feds get the message from our model sections that a border security fence is IMPERATIVE, and AFFORDABLE, the border will NOT BE secure.

In Washington, DC the new Democrat-led Congress is busy holding more pro-immigration, pro-open border hearings. They are doing a lot of talk about a “guest worker” amnesty program and killing the border fence bills already passed.

I guess this is what Chertoff means when he talks about a virtual fence. You cannot see or touch a virtual fence, because it is not really there—it is only virtually there! But virtually there is perfect for fooling voters, because voters can sure imagine they are a lot safer if the Congress is talking about a “fence” that the feds have “virtually” built!

Wow are you confused yet? Don’t let the virtual fence fool you. If we do not have a real fence at the border, the border will soon be in your home town and you will need a fence in your own backyard to secure what little freedom you will have left. I say this because the Minuteman Fence that Bill and Connie are helping to build is within sight of their backyard in Palominas, AZ. They work on the frontline everyday with their friends and neighbors, so the rest of the country will be more secure from traffickers and terrorists.

Connie had this to say in a recent report about what happens at the border every day. “We have built over two miles of fence and have a good crew going this week. Also we are providing security for both fence lines. The weather has been harsh; we arose to 11.4 degrees Fahrenheit temperature yesterday morning. By the time we were in the field it was around 20 degrees. We completed 3/8ths of a mile even with the cold temps.”

She continued, “The activity on the south side of the International Fence picked up yesterday. We again saw Mexican military; we also saw a drop off of six young men with large back packs. They hid in a ravine in Mexico and did not cross while we were there. Many loads of illegal aliens were run to the San Pedro River yesterday while we built fence. We only saw two U.S. Border Patrol agents the entire day. They both were traveling parallel of the vans with the possible illegal aliens—I hope they managed an intercept. There is just not enough manpower down here, and so much open territory.”

America needs a FENCE! We have a monumental challenge ahead to raise $55 million. We urgently need your help for this effort to succeed. With your contribution TODAY, MCDC can make America more secure by continuing to empower citizen volunteers in their active support of the Minuteman Border Fence. We CAN show the federal government what border security IS, and how IT CAN BE DONE!

Be sure to send this to EVERYONE you know who wants to help STOP illegal aliens at the border! Thank you!

Sincerely for America,

Chris Simcox, President
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps

Minutemen build their own fence against migrants

02 January 2007

Two men stand working in the afternoon sun just metres from the United States-Mexico border. Clad in hard hats and work shirts, tool belts slung around their waists, they have been toiling at this spot in the Arizona desert since early October.

One holds an iron stanchion while the other bolts a horizontal bar to it. But before the joint can be tightened, the whole structure starts to sway. A shout goes up: "Watch out!" The five metre pole lurches toward the dry red earth, bringing its neighbour down with it. The latest weapon in the fight against undocumented migrants looks a little shaky.

The iron and steel fence is the latest project from the Minutemen, the volunteer group of anti-immigration activists that has placed itself at the sharp end of the immigration debate since launching a highly publicised series of border watches in 2005. Now, frustrated at what the group sees as the inaction of government, it has taken matters a step further, building its own border fence at a cost of around $1-million at one of the busiest points on the line, 144km from Tucson.

"It's not only a symbol, although its creation is symbolic of something," says Al Garza, national executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defence Corps. "It's saying: Congress, Mr President, we've pleaded, now we're demanding. You've told us it can't be done, well we're just a handful of people and we're doing it."

Wearing a white Stetson and bearing a crisply trimmed white moustache, Garza is the picture of a border activist. A retiree who moved to Arizona from California less than four years ago, he served in the marines and worked as a private investigator in California for 35 years.

"We know that the observation won't quash or deter immigration," he says, "so we thought what was the alternative: a fence."

But there is a flaw in the Minutemen's plan. While the US-Mexico border stretches for 3 188km, from California to Florida, the Minuteman fence when finished will be just 1,6km long.

Despite this apparent drawback, Garza is adamant that the fence will have an effect. "It's also deterring traffic from that particular area, which is heavily, heavily travelled. One mile out here is very crucial, so that's one mile the Border Patrol won't have to scout."

Others, however, doubt whether a fence will have any effect. "They'll just go around this fence in the way they go around others," says Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute think tank in Washington DC. "All a fence will do is direct people to more remote areas and create the likelihood of more deaths."

The Minuteman fence is being built on a private ranch between the towns of Douglas and Naco. While the border around the towns is fortified by six-metre high welded steel panels, the point where the Minutemen are building their fence is marked by a barbed wire fence and some iron bars. It is an unconvincing barrier.

"Until the Minutemen came along and really raised national awareness about this there was nothing like this," says Connie Faust, a Minuteman volunteer who has just taken charge of building the fence. "This was all holes in the fence. Cattle were coming through, illegal aliens were coming through. It's been a real problem for the ranchers out here."

Like Garza, Faust is a recent arrival on the border, moving from Montana three years ago. Like Garza too, her conversion to the Minuteman cause came to her thanks to Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel.

While Garza had been impressed when he saw Minuteman co-founder Chris Simcox interviewed on the channel, Faust joined up after seeing the group's other founder, Jim Gilchrist, on the channel's Hannity and Colmes show. She went straight to the Minuteman website and signed on.

"When I lived in Montana I would hear [Fox host] Bill O'Reilly but it didn't really mean that much to me," she says. "When I came here to Arizona it started to make sense."

Faust puts her hand against a completed section of the fence. "This is a slice of it," she says, running her hands along the metal grille firmly held by iron posts set in concrete. "Then we'll have razor wire on the top of it."

Small US flags hang from the completed parts of the fence; a full-size Stars and Stripes hangs from one post. "That's my father's casket flag," Faust says. "He would have been very proud. He served in the second world war. And we have a thousand of these small flags that we'll be putting out. These flags are made in America."

A Border Patrol agent waves as he drives past, following the dirt road that runs between the border and the Minuteman fence. He stops on a small rise, just past the railway bridge known as Arnie's Trestle. The railway line runs just inside Mexico.

"As they come along Arnie's Trestle there they jump off the train," says Faust. "He goes slow, very slow. That's a real hot spot."

From there the migrants typically head north, to Tucson or Phoenix, having paid a "coyote" -- the professional smuggler who brings them across the border -- anything between $1 500 and $3 000.

The fence is at the heart of what is known as the Tucson sector, the busiest crossing-point on the border. Of 1,1-million arrests made by the Border Patrol in 2005, almost half of them were here. This year the figure, in common with the entire border, has dropped, with 392 000 undocumented migrants held.

The decline in arrests -- 27% down on last year -- could be due to any number of reasons: the increase in Border Patrol officers, the presence of National Guard troops mandated by President George Bush last year, the tougher penalties imposed on those who are caught, the clampdown on undocumented workers in the US. Or it could be that the coyotes and their clients are getting better at dodging law enforcement. Nobody really knows and the figures are, at best, estimates.

"You wonder how many get by," says TJ Bonner, president of the agents' union, the 6 500 member National Border Patrol Council. "Our agents estimate that for every person we catch, two or three get by." Bonner sees the Minuteman fence as a publicity ploy. "I think the impact on day-to-day operations will be really minimal," he says. "The larger impact of groups like the Minutemen is in bringing attention to the problem. The fence project is more of a public demonstration to shame the administration."

The Minutemen began building their fence last October, the same month that Bush signed into law an act that provided for the building of a 1 120km-long fence along part of the US-Mexico border. The act was the culmination of a year of partisan debate in Congress, fuelled by the activities of groups such as the Minutemen and the immigrants' rights marches of last spring.

Unable to work out a compromise offering increased border security and an amnesty or some path to citizenship for those already in the US, Congress was only able to come up with the fence and a commitment to a "virtual" fence, a hi-tech series of initiatives designed to enforce border security.

But no funds were voted for the fence, and its $7-billion estimated cost mean that it is unlikely to be built. Meanwhile, estimates of the cost of the virtual fence have risen from $2-billion to $30-billion.

One thing most people agree on, however, is that the border is highly porous. The Department of Homeland Security this month said it had "effective control" over just 454km of the nation's 1 908km southern border.

"It's a very complex problem," Connie Faust says, "and the first thing to solve the problem is to close the border, then we can deal with all these other issues."

Behind her the four labourers hired by the Minutemen continue building the 1,6km-long fence in the winter heat of the desert.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006

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