'Minutemen' to Patrol Arizona Border
POSTED BY: sgtgump
UPDATED: Friday, April 8, 2005 08:42
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'Minutemen' to Patrol Arizona Border
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen. Nearly 500 volunteers have already joined the Minuteman Project, anointing themselves civilian border patrol agents determined to stop the immigration flow that routinely, and easily, seeps past federal authorities.
They plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border throughout April when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks.
``I felt the only way to get something done was to do it yourself,'' said Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is helping recruit Minutemen across the country.
``We've been repeatedly accused of being people who are taking the law into our own hands,'' said Gilchrist, 56, of Aliso Viejo, Calif. ``That is an outright bogus statement. We are going down there to assist law enforcement.''
Officials concede the 370-mile Arizona border is the most porous stretch on the U.S.-Mexico line. Moreover, recent intelligence show that al-Qaida terrorists are likely to enter the country through the Mexico border, James Loy, the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, said last week.
``Several al-Qaida leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico, and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons,'' Loy said in written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the U.S. Border Patrol last year, 52 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border. The agency increased the number of agents in the Tucson sector, which has its largest staff, from 1,700 to 2,100 over the last 18 months.
But that number is going to grow to try to plug the remaining holes, said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner. About 10,000 federal agents now patrol the 2,000-mile southern border, he said.
Officials fear the Minuteman patrols could cause more trouble than they prevent. At least some of the volunteers plan to arm themselves during the 24-hour desert patrols. Many are untrained and have little or no experience in confronting illegal border crossings.
``Any time there are firearms and you're out in the middle of no-man's land in difficult terrain, it's a dangerous setting,'' said Bonner, whose agency is keeping a close eye on the Minutemen plans.
``The Border Patrol does this every day, and they are qualified and very well-trained to handle the situation,'' he said. ``Ordinary Americans are not. So there's a danger that not just illegal migrants might get hurt, but that American citizens might get hurt in this situation.''
Civilian patrols are nothing new along the southern border, where crossing the international line is sometimes as easy as stepping over a few rusty strands of barbed wire. But they usually are limited to small, informal groups, leaving organizers to believe the Minuteman Project is the largest of its kind on the southern border.
It may also prove to be a magnet for what Glenn Spencer, president of the private American Border Patrol, described as camouflage-wearing, weapons-toting hard-liners who might get a little carried away with their assignments.
``How are they going to keep the nutcases out of there? They can't control that,'' said Spencer, whose 40-volunteer group, based in Hereford, Ariz., has used unmanned aerial vehicles and other high-tech equipment to track and report the number of border crossings for more than two years.
``There's a storm gathering here on the border, and there are conditions ripe for some difficulty,'' he said.
The border agents agree.
The Minutemen ``clearly have every reason to be upset with the federal government for abandoning them,'' said National Border Patrol Council president T.J. Bonner, no relation to the commis
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I think we should set up a 100 yd of DMZ there and mine the f!#k out of it.
Then watch the fire works.
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Quote:
Originally posted by sgtgump:
I think it's a good idea, kind of like volunteer fire departments. What do you guys think?
My main concern is that this is a gigantic clusterfuck waiting to happen. I just hope that no one gets seriously hurt.
Michael Marizco of the Arizona Daily Star has done a few articles on this over the past month and some things popped out at me (the links are all registration required - I'll post them but you have to use bugmenot.com or register to read).
The first is the sheer volume of people coming across the border, "Last year, an Arizona Daily Star compilation of Mexican consulate and Arizona county medical examiner records documented 191 illegal-entrant deaths in the Tucson Sector, from Oct. 1, 2003, to Sept. 30, 2004. Agents in the Tucson Sector apprehended about 491,000 people in the same time period." (from "500 more agents on the way to border" 30 March 2005 http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB-20050330-dsbp-borderpat
rol.18bd8a883.html ).
The second is that this is pretty harsh terrain. You get a lot of untrained people out there stumbling around in the desert. That's just a recipe for unpleasantness.
The third is that the locals are already pretty pissed. You get a bunch of people tramping over your property, led by a guy from a pretty ritzy California suburb, and tempers could flare.
The fourth is that there are some highly unsavory characters doing human, drug, and weapon smuggling across the border. Why someone would want to walk into the middle of that without all the logistical support and training that Border Patrol agents have is beyond me.
I guess my response would be that, if people feel compelled, they should just try to get a job working with the Border Patrol.
If you're interested:
"Minutemen won't be the only ones watching" by Natalie Tejeda 30 March 2005 http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB_2005_0329_nt_minutemanp
review.18935a9c2.html
"Minutemen appear to be restyling campaign along Mexican border" by Michael Marizco 20 March 2005 http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/032005ccjrkmsbminutemen.15b1
f2129.html
"Border-watch group: All talk?" by Michael Marizco 22 February 2005 http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB-20050222-dsbp-minutemen
.d252ca45.html
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These guys alos have a couple of single engine airplanes they are planning on deploying. I guess they have enough folks donating money for the gas and maintenance.
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It is truly an economic problem that could be solved if companies in the US wouldn't hire illegals at dirt-cheap wages. Germany has a lot of immigration, too- mainly from Turkey and Eastern Europe- but they also have high wages that are strictly enforced by unions. You would think that high wages would be an incentive for ppl to come into Germany, but it actualy works in reverse: corporations have no interest hiring third-world skills for first-world wages.
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Quote:I just don't see that there's an appropriate level of coordination.
I think it's a good idea, kind of like volunteer fire departments. What do you guys think?
My cousin was a Border Patrol agent on the southern border for around 10 years. I got a fuzzy picture of what his job was like, and a starting point for what I imagine now: any combination of agents, minutement, drug smugglers, and illegals in the area, at night, with everybody sneaking around, everybody wired-up and at least a few people with guns. It could be like one of those Italian opera farces, where people hide behind curtains, duck into closets, bump into each other out on the same balcony ..., except without the comedy.
I do hope nobody actually encounters anybody else.
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Yeah, there are also "aid workers" out there as well. I think some of them call themselves "Angels of the desert" or some such. Handing out water and blankets to the illegal crossers.
Quote:
Originally posted by rue:Quote:I just don't see that there's an appropriate level of coordination.
I think it's a good idea, kind of like volunteer fire departments. What do you guys think?
My cousin was a Border Patrol agent on the southern border for around 10 years. I got a fuzzy picture of what his job was like, and a starting point for what I imagine now: any combination of agents, minutement, drug smugglers, and illegals in the area, at night, with everybody sneaking around, everybody wired-up and at least a few people with guns. It could be like one of those Italian opera farces, where people hide behind curtains, duck into closets, bump into each other out on the same balcony ..., except without the comedy.
I do hope nobody actually encounters anybody else.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Jasonzzz:
These guys alos have a couple of single engine airplanes they are planning on deploying. I guess they have enough folks donating money for the gas and maintenance.
16 private planes and over 1,000 volunteers, most ex-military...these guys seem to be doing better the the Federal Govt which is huffing and puffing just to get 500 half trained border rangers and a couple surplus Blackhawks down there.
I'd go, but I hate the desert. If we ever need to secure the Canadian Border...I'm there, in the summer at least.
H
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Just an update on this story.
I guess 15% turnout is better than 0% turnout. But when you're outnumbered by the press...
Quote:
excerpted from http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/allheadlines/68578.php
TOMBSTONE - Only a fraction of the promised 1,000 Minuteman volunteers showed up here Friday for the start of their month-long protest of the federal government's inability to control the U.S.-Mexican border.
In a crowd of more than 150 reporters, photographers and camera crews, about 150 Minuteman volunteers registered for the project, photos of the event show. Reports were wildly scattered, with the Associated Press reporting 100 while CNN reported hundreds.
* Hat tip to David Neiwert for the link
---------------------
Next up: Early "Nutcrusher" Jubal and the Firebuggers
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Quote:
Originally posted by SoupCatcher:
Just an update on this story.
I guess 15% turnout is better than 0% turnout. But when you're outnumbered by the press...Quote:
excerpted from http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/allheadlines/68578.php
TOMBSTONE - Only a fraction of the promised 1,000 Minuteman volunteers showed up here Friday for the start of their month-long protest of the federal government's inability to control the U.S.-Mexican border.
In a crowd of more than 150 reporters, photographers and camera crews, about 150 Minuteman volunteers registered for the project, photos of the event show. Reports were wildly scattered, with the Associated Press reporting 100 while CNN reported hundreds.
I read the the 1,000 volunteer figure was spread out over the whole month. I know a local cop not scheduled to leave till his vacation starts next week.
Mexican Gang leaders and smugglers are calling border crossing in the region "impossible" under the present circumstances.
H
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