Thread: Minutement Targeting Conroe Day Laborer Sites

http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.c...ept_id=532215&

The center of Conroe's Hispanic community is the site of a new stealth war being conducted by local members of a group dedicated to securing the U.S.-Mexico border.


Starting this week, several Montgomery County residents who belong to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which has chapters nationwide, including Houston, have been photographing the vehicles of employers seeking workers at the Conroe day labor worksite, located at Avenue G and San Jacinto Street. The men, most of whom don't want their names published, sit in their vehicles in a parking lot across the street from the site, take photos and write down license plate numbers.
The men believe strongly in their mission - to do "something" about illegal immigration, an issue they believe the federal government has failed miserably in handling, according to one member. But the Minuteman's actions are misplaced at the day labor site, said a member of the committee that oversees the site.
Ed Henderson, 68, is a retired Certified Public Accountant and reserve deputy and co-managing partner for Kenco Arms LLC in Conroe, and one of four Montgomery County residents who participated in the surveillance Wednesday. Watching the debate intensify over illegal immigration - and seeing no action from the federal government - got his blood boiling.
"I sat at home for months complaining about the illegal immigration situation," he said, "and thought it was time I did something about it. I joined the Minuteman because I felt it was my obligation to ensure those of us who live here have our rights protected."
A new member, Henderson joined the Houston Minuteman chapter only 30 days ago but quickly organized the surveillance at the day labor site. Monday was the group's first day for the surveillance, and the members hope to make it a regular practice at least two days a week, he said.
Confrontation is not the purpose of their visits, he emphasized. They are there "to let employers know or remind them it is against federal law to hire illegal workers and convert the place from an illegal operation to a legal one," he said. "Eighty percent of these workers are probably illegal. We take photos and license plate numbers of the employers and send them reminders."
Using the license plate numbers, Henderson and his fellow Minutemen are able to locate addresses of employers, who receive this notice in the mail: "WARNING - Mobile and/or fixed, hidden cameras are in the area, photographing vehicle licenses, company signs, faces of drivers and the movement of vehicles and people. Photographs can and will be used as evidence in the possible prosecution of individuals found guilty of the following offenses."
The notice goes on to state the hiring, assisting, harboring, transporting and sheltering of illegal immigrants are all federal offenses and lists sentences for each violation. At the bottom is a statement that information may be provided to Immigration and Naturalization Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and the IRS.
Henderson doesn't know whether the information is actually sent to those federal agencies.
"I personally doubt it," he said. "We can't assume they are hiring undocumented workers."
And that's exactly the flaw in the group's mission, according to Marcos Valdez Jr., a Conroe businessman and member of the city of Conroe's day labor committee.
"You cannot assume employers are hiring illegal workers," he said. "It's not an illegal day labor site. No one's specifying illegal or legal."
The day labor site was created three years ago after a group of businessmen along south Frazier Street, frustrated that day laborers waiting for work in their parking lots were hurting business, approached the Conroe City Council and asked that something be done. The city, along with officials from South Side Baptist Church, the Oscar Johnson Center and other groups, created the site, using a portable building as an office. All laborers and employers register at the building and each pay $1 to register.
No complaints or calls about the Minuteman group's recent activities have been taken at the Conroe Police Department, according to Sgt. Bob Berry.
"We are aware of the situation and are monitoring it," he said. "As long as they're not breaking the law, trespassing or causing a disturbance, there'd be no reason for us to take any enforcement action."
A firm believer in border security and an advocate for a fence along the border, Conroe Mayor Tommy Metcalf is also a firm believer in the day labor site.
"The people on South Frazier are glad it's there. It's a central location as opposed to people being all over," he said. "It's a controlled environment."
The Conroe Police Department cannot arrest people on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, Metcalf said. "We cannot racially profile anyone. We can't stop and ask for documentation," he said. "If they break the law and we find they are illegal, we turn them over to the INS. We're adhering to every law concerning illegal immigrants."
Henderson thinks otherwise.
"The city is violating federal law," he said. "All they had to do was go down and ask each person to provide ID, then send them back to Mexico if they're illegal."
Several of the Minutemen, including Henderson, are licensed to carry firearms and do so while they are watching the day labor site, he said. But they carry them only for protection, and Henderson said he has "never felt threatened" while doing the surveillance. The group does not want any confrontation at all.
"I'm a little too old to get ... whipped," he said.
The workers and employers who use the day labor site to connect are "very nervous," Valdez said.
"They'll be hesitant to show up for a day or two," he said of the workers. "But some of them don't care."
What he cares about is that those workers who don't show up because they feel threatened by the Minutemen will lose out on much-needed wages.
"They are keeping some of the men from getting a day's wages," he said. "They need the money on a daily basis. They're poor people."
And, he said, he's heard some of the employers are starting to let go some of the workers if the laborers "can't even come up with a false Social Security number."
Valdez does believe, however, that the Minutemen have a right to do what they're doing. "They're Americans; they have the law on their side. They're just sending a message to the people in charge. But the guy at the bottom is not the culprit," he said. "The people you're picking on didn't make the rules, but we're picking on them.
"They're misplacing their anger."



Nancy Flake can be reached at nflake@hcnonline.com.

I just emailed a thank you to Ed Henderson at Kenco Arms for standing up for America. Please take a moment to thank them!

http://www.kencoarmsllc.com/





The center of Conroe's Hispanic community is the site of a new stealth war being conducted by local members of a group dedicated to securing the U.S.-Mexico border.


Starting this week, several Montgomery County residents who belong to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which has chapters nationwide, including Houston, have been photographing the vehicles of employers seeking workers at the Conroe day labor worksite, located at Avenue G and San Jacinto Street. The men, most of whom don't want their names published, sit in their vehicles in a parking lot across the street from the site, take photos and write down license plate numbers.
The men believe strongly in their mission - to do "something" about illegal immigration, an issue they believe the federal government has failed miserably in handling, according to one member. But the Minuteman's actions are misplaced at the day labor site, said a member of the committee that oversees the site.
Ed Henderson, 68, is a retired Certified Public Accountant and reserve deputy and co-managing partner for Kenco Arms LLC in Conroe, and one of four Montgomery County residents who participated in the surveillance Wednesday. Watching the debate intensify over illegal immigration - and seeing no action from the federal government - got his blood boiling.
"I sat at home for months complaining about the illegal immigration situation," he said, "and thought it was time I did something about it. I joined the Minuteman because I felt it was my obligation to ensure those of us who live here have our rights protected."
A new member, Henderson joined the Houston Minuteman chapter only 30 days ago but quickly organized the surveillance at the day labor site. Monday was the group's first day for the surveillance, and the members hope to make it a regular practice at least two days a week, he said.
Confrontation is not the purpose of their visits, he emphasized. They are there "to let employers know or remind them it is against federal law to hire illegal workers and convert the place from an illegal operation to a legal one," he said. "Eighty percent of these workers are probably illegal. We take photos and license plate numbers of the employers and send them reminders."
Using the license plate numbers, Henderson and his fellow Minutemen are able to locate addresses of employers, who receive this notice in the mail: "WARNING - Mobile and/or fixed, hidden cameras are in the area, photographing vehicle licenses, company signs, faces of drivers and the movement of vehicles and people. Photographs can and will be used as evidence in the possible prosecution of individuals found guilty of the following offenses."
The notice goes on to state the hiring, assisting, harboring, transporting and sheltering of illegal immigrants are all federal offenses and lists sentences for each violation. At the bottom is a statement that information may be provided to Immigration and Naturalization Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and the IRS.
Henderson doesn't know whether the information is actually sent to those federal agencies.
"I personally doubt it," he said. "We can't assume they are hiring undocumented workers."
And that's exactly the flaw in the group's mission, according to Marcos Valdez Jr., a Conroe businessman and member of the city of Conroe's day labor committee.
"You cannot assume employers are hiring illegal workers," he said. "It's not an illegal day labor site. No one's specifying illegal or legal."
The day labor site was created three years ago after a group of businessmen along south Frazier Street, frustrated that day laborers waiting for work in their parking lots were hurting business, approached the Conroe City Council and asked that something be done. The city, along with officials from South Side Baptist Church, the Oscar Johnson Center and other groups, created the site, using a portable building as an office. All laborers and employers register at the building and each pay $1 to register.
No complaints or calls about the Minuteman group's recent activities have been taken at the Conroe Police Department, according to Sgt. Bob Berry.
"We are aware of the situation and are monitoring it," he said. "As long as they're not breaking the law, trespassing or causing a disturbance, there'd be no reason for us to take any enforcement action."
A firm believer in border security and an advocate for a fence along the border, Conroe Mayor Tommy Metcalf is also a firm believer in the day labor site.
"The people on South Frazier are glad it's there. It's a central location as opposed to people being all over," he said. "It's a controlled environment."
The Conroe Police Department cannot arrest people on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, Metcalf said. "We cannot racially profile anyone. We can't stop and ask for documentation," he said. "If they break the law and we find they are illegal, we turn them over to the INS. We're adhering to every law concerning illegal immigrants."
Henderson thinks otherwise.
"The city is violating federal law," he said. "All they had to do was go down and ask each person to provide ID, then send them back to Mexico if they're illegal."
Several of the Minutemen, including Henderson, are licensed to carry firearms and do so while they are watching the day labor site, he said. But they carry them only for protection, and Henderson said he has "never felt threatened" while doing the surveillance. The group does not want any confrontation at all.
"I'm a little too old to get ... whipped," he said.
The workers and employers who use the day labor site to connect are "very nervous," Valdez said.
"They'll be hesitant to show up for a day or two," he said of the workers. "But some of them don't care."
What he cares about is that those workers who don't show up because they feel threatened by the Minutemen will lose out on much-needed wages.
"They are keeping some of the men from getting a day's wages," he said. "They need the money on a daily basis. They're poor people."
And, he said, he's heard some of the employers are starting to let go some of the workers if the laborers "can't even come up with a false Social Security number."
Valdez does believe, however, that the Minutemen have a right to do what they're doing. "They're Americans; they have the law on their side. They're just sending a message to the people in charge. But the guy at the bottom is not the culprit," he said. "The people you're picking on didn't make the rules, but we're picking on them.
"They're misplacing their anger."



Nancy Flake can be reached at nflake@hcnonline.com.[/quote]