Free Republic

A new proposition to strengthen the U.S. border with Mexico is now headed to Congress. U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul was in Austin Monday to promote the new bill. It would create a type of citizen's patrol, much like the controversial Minutemen group that already patrols the border. The difference is the new citizen's patrol will fall directly under the citizen's corp, providing more screening, training, and more supervision. McCaul says that the bill is modeled after what the Coast Guard has been doing for decades.

The Minutemen civilian border patrol group is halfway through its month-long operations along the Texas-Mexico border, and the group says it is getting the attention of would be illegal immigrants in Latin America, and politicians in Washington. "We're getting the politicians on board and they're notifying Bush that this kind of thing is going to happen whether he likes it or not, and that's our goal," said Shannon McGauley of Arlington, a leader of Texas Minutemen, Inc, one of several Minutemen groups active in Texas. He spoke with 1200 WOAI news from a ranch near Ft. Hancock, east of El...

He came to the border to see for himself how bad things really are. A U.S. congressman who has introduced legislation enabling the governors of border states to set up civilian border patrols this morning met with Val Verde County Sheriff A. D’Wayne Jernigan to get a firsthand look at some of the border’s security problems. U.S. Rep. John A. Culberson in July introduced a bill that would enable governors of states on an international border to call up a “citizen militia” to keep people from illegally crossing those borders. Culberson, a Houston Republican, next is expected to travel to...

An activist group working to halt illegal immigration in South Texas claimed victory just a week into its monthlong mission, saying it has dramatically reduced migrant-traffic flow through several ranches under its watch. But challenges also are mounting for the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps of Texas, as the Border Patrol dismissed their calls of triumph and as a nascent local opposition movement seeks to undermine their presence in the area. The Minuteman group is headquartered at a private ranch off U.S. 281 in Falfurrias and is the largest of several similar organizations that have taken up after the original Minuteman...

Every night for the past week, Dave Summers has set up a lawn chair in the South Texas bush and sat for hours on end, listening. Summers is from Mesquite, but he's been in and around Falfurrias since July, setting satellite coordinates and tracking signs of movement - in particular, human movement - in preparation for this month's kickoff of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps' Texas vigil, which began Oct. 1. Now, he's using that information to determine where he's most likely to cross the path of illegal immigrants. That's where he and his fellow minutemen spend their nights waiting...

FALFURRIAS — The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps say they will continue watching borders in 12 states even if the people they help catch are just let back onto the streets. The number of undocumented immigrants the group catches is irrelevant, as is the fact that there are not enough detention beds to put them all in, said Rich Pierce, executive vice president of the U.S. Border Patrol Council, a labor union that represents about 60 percent of the agency. What is important is the volunteers are braving the heat and risking their lives to raise an issue with voters and...

FALFURRIAS — This small town, a welcome highway stop in a no-man's-land of mesquite brush between San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, hummed along Saturday like it was any other weekend. Families enjoyed chicken fried steaks and fries at the Star of Texas restaurant. The local radio station played rancheras and gave out the weather report. Yet out of sight just 8 miles south on U.S. 281, activity whirled on a private ranch as volunteers from Texas and other states kicked off a monthlong project to combat illegal immigration. The ranch belongs to Michael Vickers, a local veterinarian who...

Volunteers aid in capture of 12 undocumented immigrants FALFURRIAS — Just hours into the official "Secure Our Borders" campaign, which kicked off Saturday and lasts through the end of October, volunteers from the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps were helping federal agents track about 30 illegal immigrants walking through the brush near the Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias. It wasn’t even light yet when the Minutemen heard over U.S. Border Patrol radio frequencies that an apparently foreign group was headed north, said group president and founder Chris Simcox. "He called out the location, and we thought, ‘Damn, that’s right where we...

Editor: It is somewhat disturbing to read the opinions and actions of the mayor, City Commission and Father Michael Seifert regarding the Minuteman campaign. It seems like the ongoing problem of our government is trying to please foreign governments and its people even when it’s not in our best interest. Mayor Eddie Treviño is quoted as saying that no civilian should take the law into his own hands and that law enforcement should be left to those who are trained. By the same fashion Mayor Treviño and the City Commission should reflect on this statement and let law enforcement deal...

There's little doubt that a civilian border-watch effort meant to deter undocumented immigrants will kick off in Texas this weekend. How many volunteers will actually show up, and which faction of the once-united front they'll join, is in question. The original Minuteman Project brought dozens of people from across the country to Arizona in April to become de facto border agents. Pledging to continue the headline-grabbing mission, organizers say thousands will take to the four U.S. southern border states starting Saturday. Just as in Arizona, opponents plan to protest and monitor their activities. The Border Patrol is also sticking to...

Sunday, Updated: 11:06 PM The Minutemen are counting down the hours until they start patrolling. RAYMONDVILLE--Al Garza says he knows some valley residents don't want the Minutemen here but he also says he's on a mission. Garza is the Texas and Arizona Minutemen president. He says his mission is simple. He and his volunteers will travel between Roma and Brownsville to watch the border. Garza says they'll be on the lookout for illegal immigrants and smuggling operations. He says his volunteers will be non-confrontational and non-violent and if they Minutemen see any illegal activity they'll simply call the authorities.

Organizer: Valley doesn’t understand magnitude of immigration problem FALFURRIAS — Mike Vickers, a Falfurrias veterinarian and landowner, has lived on a ranch for the better part of his life. He was born in a Corpus Christi farming and ranching community and moved to Falfurrias in April 1975. His life experiences, he said, are much different from those living in the Rio Grande Valley, where he feels more citified folk don’t quite understand or want to understand the impact of illegal immigration. His firsthand experiences are why he is one of the key organizers of the Falfurrias Minuteman Civil Defense Corps....

FALFURRIAS, 18 de septiembre, 2005 — They say Don Pedrito Jaramillo healed anyone, from anywhere, at any time, at no charge. The infamous bearded Texas curandero lived near here a hundred years ago; his grave is now a shrine for those with ailing family members who ask for his help. A hundred years after Don Jaramillo’s death, Falfurrias has become the main stage for the national anti-illegal immigration group, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, whose campaign to keep undocumented immigrants out of Texas has formed a rift between those who are either with them or against them. And as the...

Cameron County officials are the latest to reject the group's intent to monitor migrants BROWNSVILLE - As organizers of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps finalize plans with 500 volunteers for next month's border-watching operation in South Texas, local leaders from El Paso to Brownsville are working hard to discourage them. On Tuesday, the Cameron County Commissioners Court unamiously passed a resolution opposing the Minuteman operation, joining governments in El Paso and Laredo that have rejected the group's intent to set up surveillance camps on the Texas-Mexico border. The resolutions call for enforcement strictly by federal officers. ''They're opportunists. ... they...

— The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was not the first to target illegal immigration on the United States-Mexico border and likely won’t be the last. The Arizona-based group dedicated to reporting illegal activity along the U.S.-Mexico border is kin to the Texas Minutemen, whose four core members participated in the Arizona effort last summer and brought the idea home, said the Texas group’s president Shannon McGauley. The Texas Minutemen are independent of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. and is currently awaiting approval of a nonprofit 501(c) status. “We had already formed this (in Texas), and when we had been solicited...

The first Texas chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps disbanded Monday. "The Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was dissolved today," chapter president Kenneth Buelter said in a brief e-mail sent to the Victoria Advocate on Monday evening. The e-mail included no further explanation and directed all comments to either Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas president Al Garza or to a representative of the Falfurrias chapter. Repeated attempts to contact Buelter on Monday evening were unsuccessful. Buelter notified the Texas leader of his resignation and the dissolution of the Goliad-area chapter Monday evening, Garza said in...

The Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas will not conduct activities in this area as part of a major border observation event scheduled for October. "There won't be anything here in the Goliad area specifically other than what we do just on a daily basis," said Kenneth Buelter, chapter president. Those daily activities amount to the vigilance maintained by any neighborhood watch, he said. In October, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas plans to conduct a massive border observation effort along the U.S.-Mexico border, said Al Garza, president of the organization. Former Texas and Goliad...

Border Patrol deployment prompts premature launch for Civil Defense Corps — The Minutemen are coming. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas will begin their operation here sooner than expected in response to a deployment of Border Patrol agents to aid in hurricane disaster areas. Minuteman President Al Garza confirmed Wednesday that about 50 of the organization’s volunteers would come to Brownsville this month for early implementation of their operation: Secure Our Borders. Minuteman officials do not publicize when they will arrive or where they will set up camp. Traditionally, they have limited their activities in Texas to private properties...

Majority of City Commission would support resolution against border militia group — Cameron Park church parishioners are organizing a “white ribbon” campaign for dialogue, calling for prayer and reflection in response to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. of Texas’ plans to mobilize in the Rio Grande Valley. The so-called Minutemen have organized to combat illegal immigration into the United States, posting a militia-like armed watch at various border points and recruiting members from across the country. The group from San Felipe de Jesús Church call themselves Social Justice and Peace Pastoral. “It’s a response to the Minuteman project that offers...

The new president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas said Monday he has investigated accusations of racism in the Goliad-area chapter made by the former chapter and state organization leader, and found them to be baseless. "I found no racism, nothing at all," said Al Garza, who worked as a private investigator for 32 years before retiring. Bill Parmley, the former president of both the state and Goliad-area organizations, resigned both posts in late July citing racist undertones in the local chapter and poor organization in the overall organization. Garza said he interviewed about 12 people and found...