Posted on 02/21/2005 2:38:55 AM PST by ajolympian2004
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen. Nearly 500 volunteers have already joined the Minuteman Project, anointing themselves civilian border patrol agents determined to stop the immigration flow that routinely, and easily, seeps past federal authorities.
They plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border throughout April when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks.
"I felt the only way to get something done was to do it yourself," said Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is helping recruit Minutemen across the country.
"We've been repeatedly accused of being people who are taking the law into our own hands," said Gilchrist, 56, of Aliso Viejo, Calif. "That is an outright bogus statement. We are going down there to assist law enforcement."
Officials concede the 370-mile Arizona border is the most porous stretch on the U.S.-Mexico line. Moreover, recent intelligence show that al-Qaida terrorists are likely to enter the country through the Mexico border, James Loy, the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, said last week.
"Several al-Qaida leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico, and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons," Loy said in written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the U.S. Border Patrol last year, 52 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border. The agency increased the number of agents in the Tucson sector, which has its largest staff, from 1,700 to 2,100 over the last 18 months.
But that number is going to grow to try to plug the remaining holes, said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner. About 10,000 federal agents now patrol the 2,000-mile southern border, he said.
Officials fear the Minuteman patrols could cause more trouble than they prevent. At least some of the volunteers plan to arm themselves during the 24-hour desert patrols. Many are untrained and have little or no experience in confronting illegal border crossings.
"Any time there are firearms and you're out in the middle of no-man's land in difficult terrain, it's a dangerous setting," said Bonner, whose agency is keeping a close eye on the Minutemen plans.
"The Border Patrol does this every day, and they are qualified and very well-trained to handle the situation," he said. "Ordinary Americans are not. So there's a danger that not just illegal migrants might get hurt, but that American citizens might get hurt in this situation."
Civilian patrols are nothing new along the southern border, where crossing the international line is sometimes as easy as stepping over a few rusty strands of barbed wire. But they usually are limited to small, informal groups, leaving organizers to believe the Minuteman Project is the largest of its kind on the southern border.
It may also prove to be a magnet for what Glenn Spencer, president of the private American Border Patrol, described as camouflage-wearing, weapons-toting hard-liners who might get a little carried away with their assignments.
"How are they going to keep the nutcases out of there? They can't control that," said Spencer, whose 40-volunteer group, based in Hereford, Ariz., has used unmanned aerial vehicles and other high-tech equipment to track and report the number of border crossings for more than two years.
"There's a storm gathering here on the border, and there are conditions ripe for some difficulty," he said.
The border agents agree.
The Minutemen "clearly have every reason to be upset with the federal government for abandoning them," said National Border Patrol Council president T.J. Bonner, no relation to the commissioner.
But "if anything goes wrong, God forbid, someone does injure an agent, this government is going to be turning both barrels on them and come after them with a vengeance," he said.
Gilchrist said the Minutemen are under strict orders to merely identify and follow illegal border crossers and alert federal agents. They should not interact with the immigrants except to offer food, water or medical care. If there's a couple of "bad apples" who turn up in the group, Gilchrist said, they will face prosecution if they step outside the law.
Something dramatic needed to be done to curb the years of crime, property damage and trash dumping caused by the border crossings, Gilchrist said.
"Things are out of control" he said. "And they've been out of control for decades."
Me too, I was surprised when I saw the title.
What drew you to that idiotic (In your case, I don't use that term lightly) conclusion?
Q:
Do people carry firearms, or just observe without protection?
A:
The Minuteman Project is neutral on this issue. It neither encourages nor discourages the "open carry" laws of the state of Arizona.
Oh good grief, people.
I was merely stating the FACT JimRob had a thread dedicated to this issue about a week ago SPECIFICALLY stating he wanted nothing to do with the Minuteman Project or Stormfront.....
I NEVER said I agree with him, I was only RESPECTING his right to control his website as he saw fit!
You guys are shooting the messenger.
Gee, sounds kinda like the BATF when they went into Waco, huh? OR the BATF/FBI when they went after Randy Weaver. I remember what the head US Marshal once said when he was responding to an idea that the BATF be folded into the Marshal service (although the Marshals hands are not clean in the Weaver affair): What do you get when you mix clean water with dirty water? ANSWER: Dirty Water
I think a handy solution is to treat the minutemen like a posse from the 1800's. Deputize them to work under the feds. As I said there is plenty of historical and I'm sure, legal precedent.
There is a bounty on U.S. Border Patrol Agents: shots are
fired all the time from the mexican side! The Border is in
chaos, if I were younger, I'd be down there with my CCW
permit.
Thanks for the heads up.
But "if anything goes wrong"
I'm sure something will go wrong, even if someone in the Gov. has to make sure it does.
A lot of the Minutemen are going to be there to protect the U.S. and that is NOT vigilanteism.
A lot of the BP, police, politicians, etc. are also behind protecting the U.S., but there are individuals on both sides who want to see the situation go out of control.
What is in it for the Border Patrol to leave the borders open? Why can they not apprehend and detain?"
They get to keep their jobs, by following their orders.
"The funny thing is, if they have ten thousand border patrol agents, why they cant get the job done."
Simple. They're not being allowed to do their jobs.
The problem with civil disobedience is that the public seldom buys into your cause if they percieve you to be problematic.
Put 250,000 on the border just standing there for a week or so, and I believe the feds would have to acknowledge 'the gig was up'.
The problem is, if someone were to try to accomplish that, people from our own side would label them something or other, and kill support as fast as they could.
This situation baffles me. I signed onto conservatism because it espoused law and order, respect for our nation, respect for our founding documents, respect for the common man though less taxation, support for moral issues and a strong ethic of right and wrong.
The stand on illegal immigration that wink and a nod approves of it, betrays everything consevatism has stood for. This is a very sad day for me.
Not only is it damn wrong, it is destroyed any cohesive nature we have. Sooner or later good people will undoubtedly throw their hands up and say WTF, this is a waste of time. The people who joined me in my core beliefs, have left the reservation. Alas, conservatism is no more.
Why else would you be concerned with the project? The only objection I've seen from the other MMP critics is the fact that some of the participants are armed.
I'm gonna go enjoy me a nice tasty after-lunch cigarette. ;-)
|
Congress has passed 7 amnesties for illegal aliens, starting in 1986. |
| 1. Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) Amnesty, 1986: A blanket amnesty for some 2.7 million illegal aliens |
| 2. Section 245(i) Amnesty, 1994: A temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens |
| 3. Section 245(i) Extension Amnesty, 1997: An extension of the rolling amnesty created in 1994 |
| 4. Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty, 1997: An amnesty for close to one million illegal aliens from Central America |
|
5. Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA), 1998: An amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti |
| 6. Late Amnesty, 2000: An amnesty for some illegal aliens who claim they should have been amnestied under the 1986 IRCA amnesty, an estimated 400,000 illegal aliens |
| 7. LIFE Act Amnesty, 2000: A reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty, an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens |
| 8. Nine current bills are vying to be Amnesty No. 8 |
What is Amnesty?
Amnesties are all too common legislative efforts to forgive the breaking of immigration laws and to make it possible for illegal aliens to live permanently in the United States. Amnesties represent a system of federal rewards and assistance for illegal migrants, and they entice an even greater number of illegal migrants. Census 2000 results indicate that 700,000 to 800,000 illegal aliens settle in the U.S. each year, with an estimated 8-11 million illegal aliens currently living in the United States.
According to INS estimates released in October, 2000, the amnesties granted in 1986 as a result of the Immigration Reform and Control Act significantly contributed to an increase in illegal immigration as the relatives of newly legalized illegal immigrants came illegally to the United States to join their family members. In the decade following the 1986 amnesty, illegal immigration increased dramatically.
MORE HERE INFO:
http://www.numbersusa.com/interests/amnesty.html
I'd like to see more evidence but I think otherwise conservative Republicans are beholden to donations from big businesses that favor low priced labor form Mexico etc. Not caring where they are legal or not. I's love to see the campaign donations list of punks such as David Drier and that rotter congressman in Arizona..... Both get big donations from agribusiness would be my guess.
http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/pubs/agworkvisa/newproposal021603.html
Jeff Flake is the illegal alien coddling Arizona Congress critter. Kolbe too who just happens to be gay like Drier.
This is an AP article. If we can't post articles from AP, what has Free Republic become?
Read what I said..It was posting the highlighted link..not the story I questioned..get a grip.
If the next terrorist attack involves a person who came across our borders illegaly, everything else this president has done, will be forgotten. Conservatism will be blamed. The American public will be livid.
I'm a staunch conservative. If 10-50,000 people die because our leaders couldn't get their act together, then I myself am going to be as livid about it as anyone else.
I could care less about the current crop of leaders. I care a great deal about the damage this might cause across the board, to issues I care about.
Read what I said..It was posting the highlighted link to the militia site..not the story I questioned..get a grip.
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