Free Republic

Minuteman Project protesters composed of members of LULAC District 14 and others stood by Gen. Ignacio Zaragozas bronze statue a symbol of Mexican liberation on Saturday at San Agustin Plaza and held a forum on keeping immigration enforcement in the hands of the U.S. Border Patrol and not those of "vigilantes."Protesters said they opposed the coming of the Minutemen, a nationally organized group whose goal is to stop illegal immigration at the U.S. borders. The group is expected to set up shop in Laredo and Webb County from Sept. 11 to Nov. 7. "We think it is wrong to allow...

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...

For one week, a Stinson L-5 has roamed the skies south of Falfurrias as part of the Minuteman border patrol, said Grant Lannon, who has volunteered with the Minuteman group for a year. The plane is one of several privately owned by Minuteman volunteers and spends more than an hour before dawn and after dusk observing the ground with an infrared scope, he said. It uses 10 gallons of automobile gasoline per hour and costs the Minuteman group about $90 per day. Lannon said members donated or loaned the scopes. "We’re observing and supporting the people on the ground," he...