http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/ ... 0875.shtml


Minutemen Expand Scope Of Patrols

FALFURRIAS, Texas, Oct. 25, 2005
(CBS)


Quote

"Our job is to intimidate law enforcement."
Chris Simcox
president of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corp


(CBS) They've been called everything from visionaries to vigilantes. Whatever you think of these self-described night watchmen of the border, the Minutemen seem to be right about one thing:

"It's going to grow, and it's going to surprise a lot of people who were hoping we would go away," one Minuteman says.

They're not going away, CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan reports.

The Minutemen have been trying to expand beyond Arizona, to California, New Mexico and Texas. To prove their increased numbers, they launched what they call a 30-day patrol this month with thousands of volunteers turning out to guard the border in all four states.

"I think our next 9/11 is going to be coming right through this Southern border," Minuteman Dr. Lee Vickers says.

Vickers, a veterinarian and a rancher, is helping to lead the charge in Texas.

He estimates at least 100 illegal immigrants sneak across his ranch every single night. His duty as a Minuteman, he says, is simple: "To document this flood of people, to try to assist the border patrol to catch them and to show Washington what's going on andhow bad it really is," Vickers explains.

But this month, the Minutemen also tried another tack â€â€