Minutemen to train first Texas group in Goliad

Victoria Advocate ^ | June 15, 2005 | ROBIN M. FOSTER

[SwinneySwitch]

GOLIAD - A citizen-based border patrol group that originated in Arizona will train its first Texas affiliate this weekend in Goliad, local organizers said this week.

Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, will conduct the training on the organization's standard operational procedures, said Bill Parmley, a resident of Sarco in South Goliad County. A public meeting and media interviews with Simcox and border-area ranchers and property owners are planned for 7 p.m. Monday at Memorial Auditorium in Goliad.

Parmley is among south Goliad County residents who organized months ago to stop illegal immigration through their area. The group, whose next meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday in Sarco, has enlisted help from sheriffs in Goliad, Bee and Refugio counties as well as U.S. Border Patrol. Simultaneously, Parmley has been in contact with hundreds of other border-area ranchers to bring the Minuteman organization here.

"I've been in touch with the Minutemen for the last three, four months," Parmley said. "People think the Minutemen will interact or engage with illegal immigrants. That's totally wrong. Area sheriffs are supporting us. That's who we'll be working with."

Parmley and Kenneth Buelter, also of Sarco, have invited U.S. Border Patrol and sheriffs from Victoria, Goliad, Bee, Refugio and other counties to meet with them and Simcox about the organization and how it works. While here, Simcox also is expected to meet with ranchers from South Texas before traveling to Odessa, where 200 area ranchers also are organizing, Parmley and Buelter said.

Goliad County Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza said he is researching the Minuteman group and plans to attend Monday's meeting.

"I'm not real familiar with that group," DeLaGarza said. "I'm being told they're a group that does exactly what Sarco is doing. If that's the case, it will be great. The people there have done good work."

According to its Web site, the group is preparing for a month long patrol effort spanning the Mexican border across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Citizen patrols who observe any form of illegal activity will report it to law enforcement.

"Once this chapter is set up here - the first official chapter in the state of Texas - we will have citizens who will be watching for illegal immigration as well as other illegal activities going on. We will be reporting it to our local law enforcement," Buelter said.

Buelter already is fighting media reports about vigilantism and racism that follow the Minutemen. The terms are now being applied to Goliad County Citizens Alert, the organization formed at Sarco early this year.

"We are not in support of vigilantism in any way. There is no one in our organization who is taking the law into their own hands. That is not our purpose," Buelter said.

Buelter said other groups are forming and calling themselves minutemen, including a group in New Mexico. That's not what is coming to Texas, he said.

"We're trying to get it straight from the source because there are a lot of other organizations calling themselves minutemen that have nothing to do with the organization in Arizona," he said.

"Vigilante" was a term used by Democratic state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, an author of a resolution that urged Gov. Rick Perry to oppose Minuteman plans for Texas, according to a recent Associated Press story.

Eleven senators signed it, and Democratic state Sen. Rodney Ellis wrote Perry that Minutemen "are not welcome in Texas." Perry responded that he can't ban people from legal activity, the story said.

"He understands and appreciates the frustration that many Texans have with illegal immigration, and its impact on national security, but ultimately this is a federal issue," Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said in the story.

The Minuteman Project drew international attention in April when volunteers showed up in Arizona to prove the border could be secured simply by putting more personnel there. While they didn't apprehend immigrants, Simcox said the group alerted the Border Patrol to suspicious behavior and helped catch 335 immigrants.

Yet the Texas border differs from the Arizona border in key ways. Most of the Texas land is privately owned, so Minutemen would need landowners' permission to be there. The border also is overwhelmingly Hispanic and more urban, and Minutemen opponents wonder how the volunteers will distinguish illegal immigrants. Opponents also fear the movement is fomenting racial hatred.

But Buelter denies that race is at issue. "This is a problem with our borders. How soon we forget 9/11. We let those terrorists into our country legally. We don't know anything about the thousands who are coming here illegally."

He cited a quote used by another co-founder of the Minuteman, Jim Gilchrist: "It's not a question of race, it' a question of the law."

Robin M. Foster is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-275-6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com.

[Jedidah]

Don't know about the wisdom of that. If I recall my 7th grade history, the Texans didn't fare too well at Goliad.

[Flyer]

You may not be on exactly the same page, bet we are definitely reading the same book.

[DumpsterDiver]

Here's one for your collection:

Minutemen to train first Texas group in Goliad
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1423505/posts

[Dog Gone]

Most of the Texas land is privately owned, so Minutemen would need landowners' permission to be there.

This is not an insignificant matter. First of all, as a landowner you have to decide whether or not you want a bunch of guys you don't know camping on your land, but the bigger deal is how much you want to be sued for everything you have if something goes wrong. And the leftist organizations are praying for at least one incident to go wrong.

[Rightly Biased]

You are correct check out my profile page about half way down

We have a second shot!!

RB

[SwinneySwitch]

Might not be a tough decision if you've had legions of illegal invaders crossing your land for years. The leftist organizations will need to get permission too or be trespassers.

[Centurion2000]

First of all, as a landowner you have to decide whether or not you want a bunch of guys you don't know camping on your land, but the bigger deal is how much you want to be sued for everything you have if something goes wrong.

Criminal tresspass is serious matter in Texas. At night if you are acting as the agent for the owner, Texas properties almost become free fire zones.

Lethal force is justified for trespassing at night in Texas. It may not be that great an idea at times, but it is justified.

[SwinneySwitch]

I doubt it's the first time, YCT. Do you want to be added to the South Texas/Mexico ping list?

[Repub Bub]

"PING"

[Liberty Valance]

Bump and a big Texas sized Welcome to the Minutemen

[backhoe]

Thanks for the link- copied & saved.

[blackie]

Be Ever Vigilant!

[libertylass]

Just for the record, it was not Chris Simcox who started the MinuteMan Project. It was Jim Gilchrist from Southern California and a member of California Coalition for Immigration Reform (C.C.I.R.) headed up by Barbara Coe. But they always give Chris the credit. I suppose it doesn't matter, but Jim owns the MinuteMan name.

Just a little trivia..........:-)