Free Republic

TUCSON, Ariz. - If the government doesn't build security fencing along the Mexico border, Minuteman border watch leader Chris Simcox says he and his supporters will. Simcox, whose civilian watch group opposes illegal immigration, said Wednesday he was sending an ultimatum to President Bush to deploy military reserves to the Arizona border by May 25 or his supporters will break ground for their own building project. "We're going to show the federal government how easy it is to build these security fences, how inexpensively they can be built when built by private people and free enterprise," Simcox said. Congress has...

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved election-year immigration legislation Monday that clears the way for millions of undocumented workers to seek U.S. citizenship without having to first leave the country. After days of street demonstrations that stretched from California to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, the committee also voted to strip out proposed criminal penalties for residents found to be in this country illegally. The panel vote cleared the way for the full Senate to begin debate Tuesday on the emotional immigration issue. All Americans wanted fairness, and they got it this evening,h said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy,...

Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a U.S. Border Patrol agent have arrested a man and a boy after the two were found burglarizing a residence near the Mexico border. In custody are a 15-year-old male juvenile who told officers he lived in Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico, and Mario Leyva, 35, who said he lived in San Jose, Coah., Mexico, according to Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Terry Simons. “They had both crossed the river into the United States to steal that night,” Simons said Thursday in an interview about the incident. Simons said the sheriff’s office...

An Al Qaida operative who was on the FBI's terrorist watch list was recently captured near the Mexican border, housed in a Texas jail and turned over to federal agents, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said on Friday. "A confirmed al Qaida terrorist, an Iraqi national, was held in the Brewster County jail," Rep. Culberson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity. "He was captured in Mexico. This was within the last six weeks. He was turned over to the FBI." The Texas Republican said he obtained the stunning information about the terrorist's capture "from the sheriffs who were directly involved. "In...

After visiting southern Arizona to observe the beginning of a month-long effort to bring awareness to the international border, some legislators say they think the effort could generate change in border policy. Nine legislators went to Tombstone in early April, when the Minutemen Project began, to learn more about the controversial event and to help teach fellow legislators about it. The Minutemen Project is a month-long effort in which as many as 200 citizens from around the country have gone to southern Arizona to patrol and bring attention to what they believe to be the federal government's inadequate efforts to...

TWO GROUPS OF MIDDLE-EASTERN INVADERS CAUGHT IN COCHISE COUNTY IN PAST SIX WEEKS Information officer Andy Adame, from the Border Patrol Tucson sector says, “I guarantee it’s not true.” However, seasoned Border Patrol field agents have shared some disturbing information with the Tumbleweed as well as other civilian sources with the hope the information will make it to the general public.The Tumbleweed has verified information that a flood of middle-eastern males have been caught entering the country illegally east of Douglas, Arizona. The increased patrols in the Huachuca Mountains area of Cochise County, seems to have diverted the flow...

In March 2002, a Border Patrol officer near San Diego once again encountered four men who appeared to be Mexican soldiers; they were armed with three submachine guns and one M-16 rifle, and crossed the border near Tecate, Mexico, while on a counter-narcotics mission, Border Patrol spokesman James Jacques said. They were all dressed in camouflage fatigues...

The bodies of two Mexican army soldiers who had been reported missing from their Juárez post since Jan. 12 were found Thursday night at the bottom of a dry well about 30 miles south of Juárez, Chihuahua state police commander Jesus Ortiz said Friday. The soldiers were identified as Adalberto Rodríguez Samayoa, 23, and Lorenzo Hernandez Mendez, both assigned to the 20th motorized infantry regiment in Juárez. Chihuahua state medical examiners said they were shot to death. Federal officials from Mexico City and Chihuahua state police said they are investigating several tips, including that the two men were killed by...

DOUGLAS -- While most Border Patrol agents spend their workdays under the blazing desert sun, Jeff Olsen sits in a stuffy room where the only light comes from a bank of surveillance monitors. But like agents in the field, Olsen is doing his part to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. The U.S. Border Patrol station in Douglas has cameras mounted on towers - eyes in the sky - that scan the border constantly for illegal activity, and Olsen is one of the agents who benefits from them.

Smart Border: 22 point agreement U.S. - Mexico Border Partnership Action Plan Secure Infrastructure 1.Long Term Planning Develop and implement a long-term strategic plan that ensures a coordinated physical and technological infrastructure that keeps pace with growing cross-border traffic. 2. Relief of Bottlenecks Develop a prioritized list of infrastructure projects and take immediate action to relieve bottlenecks. 3.Infrastructure Protection Conduct vulnerability assessments of trans-border infrastructure and communications and transportation networks to identify and take required protective measures. 4.Harmonize Port of Entry Operations Synchronize hours of operation, infrastructure improvements, and traffic flow management at adjoining ports of entry on both sides...