Thread: Minutemen plan Texas patrols

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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... an/3178245

May 12, 2005, 6:06AM

Minutemen plan Texas patrols

Border group says concerns over drugs and violence won't stop them

By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle



After spending a month engaged in a citizen patrol along the Arizona border, the Minutemen are finalizing plans to come to Texas .

Chris Simcox, the leader of the controversial Arizona group that is attempting to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from Mexico, says he is considering October for the beginning of patrols along the Rio Grande in South Texas. Other patrols are being considered for New Mexico and California.

But Simcox says there are serious logistical problems for patrols in Texas. Most of the land along the Texas border is privately owned, and some of it is urbanized, unlike the open land the group monitored in Arizona.

And the same reports of drug violence that have scared some tourists away from the South Texas region have become a concern for the Minutemen.

"The Texas border is pretty dangerous right now," Simcox said. That won't scare the Arizona-based citizen patrols away, he said, but it does mean they will be more careful in planning their operations, which might even include efforts to disrupt the flow of drugs.

"Security becomes a serious issue because we are going to be annoying a lot of people," including leaders of the drug cartels, Simcox said.
The monthlong Minuteman Project patrol in Arizona likely diverted the flow of illegal immigrants instead of preventing it. Organizers say the Border Patrol apprehended fewer than 5,000 illegal immigrants in the 20-mile region they patrolled for a month, compared with 60,000 in the month a year ago.

But organizers did draw attention to the issue. President Bush called the Minutemen "vigilantes," but California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised them.

Houston organizers opposed to illegal immigration say they are ready to go to the border.

"Get geared up and get ready because we're going to be there in October," said Wanda Schultz, a West University Place resident and representative of Americans for Zero Population Growth. Schultz and her husband went to Arizona last month to participate in the Minuteman effort.
Border representatives were less enthusiastic.

"I think the Minutemen would probably create more problems than they would solve," said Brownsville Mayor Eddie Treviño Jr.



Terrorists versus tourists

Treviño said most people in South Texas think the Border Patrol is doing its job. Increased government patrols in recent years have reduced crime in Brownsville, he said.



Texas also has a string of towns with Mexican twin cities, where regular cross-border traffic is a boon to the local economies and where citizen patrols might not be welcome.

"We're trying to distinguish between terrorists and tourists," Treviño said, suggesting the task is a difficult one better left to trained professional law enforcement.

Though the Minutemen initially considered patrolling near Brownsville, Simcox said he is considering going much farther northwest, to Big Bend National Park.

He's also reaching out to South Texas ranchers who might consider inviting the Minutemen to patrol their land.

But recent history might make that more difficult. A group called Ranch Rescue did a number of patrols on private South Texas ranches in 2003, including one on a ranch near Hebbronville. Two illegal immigrants from El Salvador claimed they were detained, and one said he was pistol-whipped by a Ranch Rescue representative on patrol.

A jury deadlocked on an assault charge against the Ranch Rescue representative. But the two immigrants filed a civil suit against both Ranch Rescue and the landowner. The owner, Joe Sutton, settled out of court.

Not as physical

Simcox says the Minutemen can't be compared to Ranch Rescue. Representatives of the Minutemen have been told to notify the Border Patrol when they spot an illegal immigrant crossing the border, not to attempt an arrest themselves. Ranch Rescue "took a much more militant approach," Simcox said.
edward.hegstrom@chron.com

Hi Sixx,

Here's another thread that has a letter from Jim Gilchrist of the MMP.

Are you in TX? I'm lookin' for ways to get busy on border security!

Originally Posted by HEIDI

Hi Sixx,

Here's another thread that has a letter from Jim Gilchrist of the MMP.

Are you in TX? I'm lookin' for ways to get busy on border security!

Yes, I am in TEXAS. The Belly of The Beast!!! I tried to send you a private message but I can't do it for some reason. Are you in TEXAS?

Hey Sixx, at leat you have one politician on your side in Texas.

www.house.gov/paul/

Originally Posted by Sixx

Yes, I am in TEXAS. The Belly of The Beast!!! I tried to send you a private message but I can't do it for some reason. Are you in TEXAS?

PM should work - I just got one tonite from ALIPAC about a question I had.

Yes, I'm in TX, too, between Houston and Galveston. You?

I'm in Cedar Hill. 9 miles south of Dallas on Hwy. 67.
Are you in Texas City, LaMargue, Freindswood, Clear Lake, Missouri City? I KNOW that area real well. I commanded the recruiting command there many moons ago when I was young and good looking
I can't get MY personal feature to work. Email me. We TEXANS have got to stand by the MMP when they arrive in October, State Fair of Texas time!!!

Originally Posted by jp_48504

Hey Sixx, at leat you have one politician on your side in Texas.

www.house.gov/paul/

I am not so sure brother. Ron Paul is like the wind. I will keep check on him and see. He backed down on some other issues b4.

I'll be there. I live outside Dallas.