Posted on 04/18/2005 2:39:17 PM PDT by Spiff
Minuteman founder leaving border early but volunteers to remain
By Arthur H. Rotstein
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:32 p.m. April 18, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. – The chief organizer of civilian volunteers who are spending the month watching for illegal immigrants and smugglers along the Mexican border is pulling out of the Minuteman Project early, a project official said Monday.
Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant from California, will leave Arizona on Wednesday and plans to appear before the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus next week in Washington. He will be taking the official Minuteman Project name and a group of volunteers.
"He is claiming victory ... so he felt it would be appropriate to wrap up his participation this week and prepare to go to Washington," said Chris Simcox, the project's field operations director.
Simcox, who also plans to be in Washington next week, said Gilchrist isn't severing his ties to the project or with other organizers.
Despite Gilchrist's departure and Simcox's temporary absence, Simcox said patrols will continue as planned until April 30, albeit under the name of Simcox's organization – Civil Homeland Defense.
The volunteers, some of whom are armed, arrived on April 1 and began spreading out a few days later along a 23-mile stretch of desert between the border communities of Naco and Douglas. They alert authorities when they see someone cross the border illegally, but are not allowed to detain anyone.
Law enforcement officials have said they fear the project will lead to vigilante violence, an accidental confrontation between armed volunteers and authorities, or a dangerous encounter with the violent smugglers who use the area.
The volunteers claim their reports have led the Border Patrol to more than 260 illegal immigrants. The Border Patrol has acknowledged receiving more than 300calls from Naco and Douglas, resulting in hundreds of apprehensions, but the agency will not say whether any calls came from project volunteers.
Every day, huge numbers of mexicans legally enter the US and spend a huge amount of money. Fron Brownsville to San Diego.
The MMP, in their effort to close the border, have intimidated the mexican buyers and they are not coming to spend money.
Many here want to close the entire border. The loss of cross-border commerce from such an action would be devastating to US businesses.
I'm just that old lady who loved those dawgs of yours!
As far as I know, those entering legally may still do so.
Ladies in California are getting mean while they witness their once-beautiful state turning into Mexico...
"spend a huge amount of money."
What does it benefit a country (or a party) to gain the whole world (or win an election) if it loses its soul.
I was listening to the hearing this morning about Election Reform with a committee headed by Jimmah Carter and Baker, Bush's bud---
anyway, they had all of the these bleeding-hearts on the panel and on the committee and they spent the whole time complaining about how hard Homeland Secuity wants to make it to vote, what with wanting Picture IDs w/citizenship requirements and all....
What really got me the most was whenever they talked about the necessity to have the ballots and voter registration forms in the "different languages" otherwise whole "cultures" would be disenfranchised.
I SAY---no one should be able to vote if the don't speak English/read English and have a picture ID!!
Is that the way ladies talk over there in California? Thank God I've been in the South my whole life. I'd be afraid to date a gal with that kinda fire!
We are red state girls in a blue state, we gotta get tough!
Right click on the picture and "Copy Image Location".
In your post use the following tags:
< img src="PASTE IMAGE LOCATION HERE" >
Remove the spage between the "<" and the "img" and the space before the trailing ">".
Many here want to close the border to illegal immigration, not to commerce between Mexico and the United States. Mexican citizens would still be able to cross the border at official border checkpoints to do their shopping at American businesses.
A government that loses the will to enforce its own laws soon becomes no government at all...
I'm sure it doesn't bother you because it is other peoples money.
I would offer an estimated $41 billion annual cost to taxpayers IS NOT merely someone else's money.
see #91
Back at you...
A country with no border loses its sovereignty.
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