2 1/2 miles of Minuteman fencing completed, more planned
July 5, 2006 09:13 PM EDT
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5117129&nav=HMO6HMaY

With 2 1/2 miles of border fencing along one Arizona ranch completed, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps plans to build a stronger security fence several miles east.
Connie Hair, a spokeswoman for the group, which opposes illegal immigration, said Wednesday that construction of vehicle barriers will start soon on the first fence project, headed by contractor Peter Kunz.
An 800-foot section of the five-strand barbed wire fencing constructed on the ranch owned by Jack Ladd and his son, John, had to be restrung after vandals cut the wire strand-by-strand within about 4 inches of each support post, Hair said.
After construction began on Memorial Day weekend and continued for a few weeks, organizers decided to switch to a contractor to complete the job to maintain quality control and because of a shortage of volunteers.
The Ladds made it clear before the project started that they wanted a barbed wire fence built to keep Mexican livestock off their pastures, not a stronger, more impregnable fence to keep people off the land, even though they oppose illegal immigration.
"The sheriff's office told us that whoever cut it down came from our side of the border. There were no tracks coming from Mexico," Hair said.
"The people who cut it were professionals ... and were wearing heavy work boots. They cut it by hand, dismantled it by hand."
Cochise County Sheriff's officials did not return calls immediately seeking comment on their investigation.
Since the repair, local-area Minuteman members have been conducting round-the-clock patrols along the 2 1/2 miles of completed fence, Hair said.
The Ladds' ranch in all includes nearly 10 miles of the border with Mexico near Naco and Palominas, and plans for building similar fencing along the rest of it have been delayed.
But the Minutemen plan to start putting in vehicle barriers along the section already completed, Hair said.
That decision came after determining that the National Guard, which is reinforcing the dirt-and-gravel border road used by the Border Patrol, will not be extending vehicle barriers along the Naco border wall, she said.
Hair had no details on Israeli-style security fencing and trenches planned on another ranch farther east.
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