http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/05 ... _10_05.txt

Area officials bracing for local Minuteman project

By: ERIN SCHULTZ - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- Some south San Diego County officials campaigned Tuesday against several groups' plans to organize a Minuteman Project-style border watch in the county.

North County's federal lawmakers said they support the Minuteman Project, a group of about 1,000 people who converged on southern Arizona last month, many carrying firearms, to watch the U.S.-Mexico border and report illegal crossers.

But San Diego city officials have denounced the volunteers, who have said they will hold a similar border watch in San Diego County this summer. Critics held a telephone news conference in San Diego on Tuesday to ask the group not to come to California.


"We do not welcome any vigilantes," Jim Duffy, president of the Deputy Sheriffs' Association of San Diego County, said during the news conference. Duffy said it would be unsafe to have armed civilians watching the San Diego-Mexico border, which is more populated than the Arizona-Mexico border.

"San Diego is not Arizona," said Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, D-San Diego, who added that she put on the conference to "discourage a potentially dangerous situation from developing along our borders this summer."

James Chase, an Oceanside man who helped organize the Arizona border watch last month, said Tuesday he is organizing a similar border watch in East San Diego County this July.

Chase said after the news conference that he'd call off his volunteers if the federal government sent more Border Patrol agents to the San Diego border.

"If they'll do their jobs and put forth a plan to cover the border that we think is reasonable and doable, I'll pull out in a second," Chase said over the phone.
Chase's group, which is called the Border Patrol Auxiliary but is not associated with the Border Patrol, is one of several that has said it wants to organize a San Diego County border watch.

He said the group's mission is not to catch illegal immigrants but to draw attention to border security problems, especially through the media.

"Our ultimate purpose is to get the proper authorities to enforce the laws," Chase said.

"Our group is a peaceful group, and we are not vigilantes, and we don't want any trouble," he said. "My response to people who ask us not to do this is that if you do your job, I'm out of here."

North County's congressmen, Reps. Duke Cunningham, R-Escondido, and Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said through spokesmen on Tuesday that they supported the Minuteman group and are working to provide more Border Patrol agents to the California-Mexico border.

Issa "agrees with them and is trying to find more federal funding" for border security, said his spokesman, Frederick Hill. "He's here in Washington fighting for that."

Cunningham issued a written statement Tuesday in response to questions about the Minuteman Project and efforts to bring a similar project to San Diego. He said he has approved bills that would authorize up to 2,000 more Border Patrol agents in the next year.

"I will continue to work in Congress to increase the number of agents as quickly as possible, and ensure they are properly trained," Cunningham's statement read.

"I applaud the efforts of these volunteer programs like the Border Patrol Auxiliary because they have helped to raise the profile of the need for additional border agents," the statement read. "I will continue to support these groups as long as they don't interfere with our officers and only observe and report illegal activity."

Contact staff writer Erin Schultz at (760) 739-6644 or eschultz@nctimes.com.