Posted on 08/10/2003 9:21:50 AM PDT by Rennes Templar
An Arizona newspaper owner and founder of a citizens' group whose goal is to thwart illegal immigration says U.S. Border Patrol officials in Washington have instructed field agents in his area to contact local authorities whenever the group intercepts and turns in illegal aliens.
Chris Simcox, editor of the Tombstone Tumbleweed and leader of Civil Homeland Defense, or CHD, told WorldNetDaily local Border Patrol supervisors and agents say their orders to contact the Cochise County Sheriff's Department whenever his volunteers hand over illegal aliens came straight from Washington, D.C.
"[Last] weekend we were notified by a Border Patrol supervisor that the word has come down directly from Washington that they are now to call in Cochise County sheriff [personnel] to interrogate every group we turn over to Border Patrol," Simcox told WorldNetDaily. "The supervisor actually apologized and told us he knows were doing a good job, yet he just has to do his job and do what he is told."
The impetus for the phone call to deputies, Simcox says, is to ensure none of the migrants are treated badly, harmed or held against their will.
CHD, like Texas-based Ranch Rescue and a handful of local residents in southwestern states, "patrol" sections of the U.S./Mexico border with an eye toward deterring illegal entry. Oftentimes, groups encounter migrants that have entered illegally already inside the U.S.; when that happens, the groups usually summon nearby Border Patrol offices so agents can pick them up and process them back to their country of origin.
But in recent months, perhaps due to increased pressure from pro-immigrant rights groups and attorneys, volunteers like Simcox say there has been stepped-up scrutiny of their activities by local and federal officials. They claim Washington's goal is to get the groups to stop intercepting and detaining illegals.
Since March, some border-group volunteers have been arrested and charged with mistreating illegals.
As WorldNetDaily reported, Ranch Rescue volunteers Casey Nethercott and Hank Conner were arrested in Hebbronville, Texas, by a Texas Ranger for allegedly pistol-whipping two illegal aliens from El Salvador. They discovered the illegals – a man and woman – while patrolling a vast swath of property owned by local rancher Joe Sutton. Sutton invited Ranch Rescue to the property for the purpose of intercepting illegals, but both men remain in custody.
And last week, Glenn Spencer, founder and head of American Border Patrol, a group that conducts electronic and other high-tech surveillance of illegal border crossings, was arrested on charges he unlawfully discharged a firearm in the back yard of his Cochise County home in Sierra Vista.
Reports said Spencer may have been firing at persons who entered his property illegally. Also, information posted at Spencer's website said he had received death threats for two days before the alleged break-in.
"Border alliance groups are launching an advertising campaign in Mexico that will encourage people to report abuse by civilian border groups and Border Patrol agents," Simcox said. "Border Patrol supervisors have clear orders from Washington to do everything possible to stop us," saying three separate agents confirmed the order.
Authorities, however, deny they are targeting the civilian groups.
Frank Amarillas, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman for the Tucson, Ariz., sector, said what Simcox is claiming is actually long-standing agency policy.
"The U.S. Border Patrol respects the views and opinions of diverse groups and organizations," he told WorldNetDaily. "And we encourage all members of the public to report any suspicious activity to the appropriate law-enforcement agency."
But, he said, "forced detention can also be viewed as a criminal offense. Violators will be forwarded to local, state or federal prosecutors for possible legal action. This has been in effect for a long time."
When asked what constituted forced detention, Amarillas said, "When any person is not allowed to move about freely, by any means, on their own."
Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Department, said Border Patrol agents have contacted deputies to interview migrants turned in either by civilian groups or private citizens and landowners.
But, she told WorldNetDaily, it is longstanding departmental policy to interrogate migrants when requested to do so, not a policy that has recently been developed to discriminate against the civilian groups.
"I don't know what orders have been issued to Border Patrol specifically … however, I do know that we have been contacted several times by [them]," Capas said. "We have interviewed people to ensure that they have not felt threatened or harmed in any way when they were apprehended or held until law enforcement could get there. We've always done this."
One organization, the Border Action Network, or BAN, confirmed in a statement that it is launching "a Mexico-wide media blitz … seeking victims of vigilante violence."
"Lawless gangs of armed vigilantes are stalking people they believe are migrants in southern Arizona," the statement said. "Though the Border Action Network has released a 30-page report on these groups and urged legislators to investigate vigilante activities, no action has yet been taken."
BAN is planning twin media events Aug. 12 in Mexico and the U.S. to announce its "bi-national campaign to stop vigilantes" – the term it has applied to the civilian border groups – in the southern Arizona region.
Zoe Hammer-Tomizuka, a spokeswoman for BAN, told WorldNetDaily she was somewhat familiar with Simcox's claims.
"That sounds right to me," she said. "I know [the Border Patrol] is supposed to contact the Mexican consulate" when the agency processes illegal aliens.
Hammer-Tomizuka also says her organization has not been contacted by migrants complaining of mistreatment by civilian border groups, but, she said, "we have a list of migrants who have been assaulted," which has been "corroborated by government sources." She did not elaborate.
"We're in the process of intensifying our campaign to find them," she said. "We're doing public service ads in newspapers and on the radio – especially in Chiapas and Mexico City, because we know that a number of assault victims come from those areas."
She said BAN had already begun to receive some response from its campaign, but did not have specifics. She said the information would be used by attorneys working with the organization "to bring civil suits against the attackers."
Simcox called such actions "a witch hunt." He also said some local Border Patrol agents and officials backed his group's actions.
Capas says while the department does question migrants to determine if they felt threatened or if they were held at gunpoint, authorities do not automatically take the side of the illegal alien in disputes.
When asked what constituted proper procedure if, for example, an armed civilian border group member or private property owner felt threatened by the presence of illegals, Capas said deputies would investigate all relevant claims.
"Such incidents may have happened on occasion," she said. "But we conduct the interviews to try to determine what happened, then send all of the information to the county prosecuting attorney's office for a legal determination."
Some immigrant-reform groups believe such tactics are meant to intimidate the border groups and other Americans concerned with stemming the flow of illegal immigration. That said, they also believe Simcox should proceed with caution.
"Mr. Simcox is going to have to be very careful," Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told WorldNetDaily.
"The organizations that are trying to bankrupt [him] or get him prosecuted are pretty powerful and sophisticated," Stein said. "I'm sure the strategy is to cook up a bunch of frivolous allegations that will eventually require defense."
But, he added, such tactics aimed at volunteers whose only goal is to stem illegal immigration is in itself an abomination.
"If these ethnic activists think Americans are just going to roll over and let their borders be trampled, they're wrong," said Stein. "It's too bad when citizen activists don't believe the government is performing its core function (protection of borders) and, at the same time, they're being coerced and pushed around by people who essentially have an agenda.
"Ethnic activists want to destroy the nation's borders, and they'll do anything they can to try to bring that about," said Stein.
Well, I think the Feds are just being PC. After all, our country seems to be running on mega amounts of PC. I know it sucks, but that is just the way it is.
Response: Yes.
Comment: Too large of a potential voting pool of illegals out there. Bush is thinking "If I can only sway 1/2 of 1% I can have another 4 years of cheers, applause and pretty military uniforms!"
Ya leave these potential Hispanic sympathetic inducing votes alone ya big bullies after all they are merely "migrating" like the swallows of Capistrano
After all its more votes for the social handout party.
With the outrageous and staggering population flow of illegal aliens into the U.S., one ponders, with great frustration, whether we can ever stem the flow.
CHD, like Texas-based Ranch Rescue and a handful of local residents in southwestern states, "patrol" sections of the U.S./Mexico border with an eye toward deterring illegal entry. Oftentimes, groups encounter migrants that have entered illegally already inside the U.S.; when that happens, the groups usually summon nearby Border Patrol offices so agents can pick them up and process them back to their country of origin.
But in recent months, perhaps due to increased pressure from pro-immigrant rights groups and attorneys, volunteers like Simcox say there has been stepped-up scrutiny of their activities by local and federal officials. They claim Washington's goal is to get the groups to stop intercepting and detaining illegals.
But, he said, "forced detention can also be viewed as a criminal offense./B>]
Guess these geniuses never heard of "Citzen's Arrest", a common law practixce that is legal inh all states, which permits forced detention. Of course, all of this would be unnecessary if the Bush administration would do it's PRIMARY JOB and protect our border security.
Something really , terribly, horribly wrong with all branches of government.
The below passage is from the recently approved H.R. 2673.
Provided further, That of the amount appropriated for rural utilities programs, not to exceed $25,000,000 shall be for water and waste disposal systems to benefit the Colonias along the United States/Mexico border, including grants pursuant to section 306C of such Act; not to exceed $17,465,000 shall be for technical assistance grants for rural water and waste systems pursuant to section 306(a)(14) of such Act, of which $5,513,000 shall be for Rural Community Assistance Programs and not to exceed $13,000,000 shall be for contracting with qualified national organizations for a circuit rider program to provide technical assistance for rural water systems:
And now, they are harassing Americans defending our border. Something the people in Washington have no interest in doing.
You forgot the "/sarcasm>" tag.
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