Free Republic

LAREDO — The first batch of what organizers say will be 1,200 Minuteman Project volunteers began a border watch operation here Monday amid catcalls from hecklers and a cold shoulder from area mayors. The 60-day "Operation Sovereignty" is about drawing attention to illegal immigration and border violence as much as it is about spotting undocumented immigrants and reporting them to authorities, Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist said. "We're down here on the fifth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil in history to remind the American public that what happened on 9-11-01 happened strictly because we never enforced...

Eight-Week Operation To Focus Along Laredo-Mexico Border SAN ANTONIO -- After a moment of silence for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, a group of civilian border-watchers plan to initiate a nearly two-month operation along the Texas-Mexico border to watch for illegal immigrants and bring attention to security issues. The Minuteman Project, led by Jim Gilchrist, will team with its Texas affiliate and the American Border Patrol of Arizona to track suspected illegal immigrants and report them to the U.S. Border Patrol. "If you're here illegally you don't need to be here," said Texas Minutemen President Shannon McGauley....

The head of the Border Patrol said Wednesday he doesn’t want members of the Minuteman Project working near his agents when they come to the Laredo area next month.The civilian group, which reports illegal immigrants to immigration authorities, is expected to start patrolling the border in the Laredo area on Sept. 11 and continue through Nov. 7. Acting Chief Patrol Agent Reynaldo Garza of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Laredo Sector said he can’t prevent the civilians from coming to Laredo, but said they won’t be allowed to interfere with official business. John Cristian Esquivel, deputy chief, said the...

SAN ANTONIO — Hundreds of volunteers plan to keep watch over the area of the Texas-Mexico border around Laredo beginning Sept. 11, and organizers said they’ll offer extra sets of eyes in the U.S. Border Patrol’s effort to stop illegal immigration. The eight-week “Operation Sovereignty” — which begins on the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks and ends on Election Day, Nov. 7 — is meant to “bring national awareness to the illegal alien invasion crisis,” said Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist. Gilchrist, who said he supports legal immigration, said the opening and closing days of the operation are...