http://www.newschannel5.tv/2007/4/10/96 ... -Minutemen


Human Rights Group Watching Minutemen
Tuesday , April 10, 2007 Posted: 06:56 PM

People reporting group handcuffed them

REYNOSA - A human rights group in Mexico is taking a stand against the Minutemen.

Fortino Lopez Balcazar says, "They're dangerous and their entire group is dangerous for people who want to cross illegally."

Balcazar is the president of Reynosa's human rights organization. He tells us he doesn't advise people to cross illegally, but he does tell them how to do it safely if they're going to do it.

The organization says it's out to warn people what they're up against when they cross the border.

Balcazar says people who cross and have been deported are saying negative things about the Minutemen.

He tells us, "When they intercept them on the other side, they handcuff them, tie them up, holding them for the Border Patrol."

"What gives them the right to believe they're in a position of authority?" he asks. "That's what the Border Patrol is for."

Balcazar is out on the river a few times a week, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He tells us he's looking for the Minutemen.

He laughs and adds sometimes he spots people looking at him through their binoculars on the other side of the river.

We asked the Minutemen organization here in South Texas about its policies. They tell us no one is allowed to speak, gesture, or touch illegals. They say their job is to observe the activity and report it to Border Patrol.

But Balcazar says he'll be watching.

"If we see something going wrong, we're here. And we're going to report it to the authorities," he tells us.