Thread: Illegal Alien Invasion-Jim Gilchrist MinuteManProject

Illegal Alien Invasion-Jim Gilchrist MinuteManProject
Source: LOU DOBBS - CNN
URL Source: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html
Published: Mar 21, 2005
Author: Transcript


LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, illegal alien invasion. Two days before a presidential summit on immigration reform, Mexican President Vicente Fox says he doesn't want to talk immigration. Fox is also calling hundreds of Americans volunteering to monitor or border extremists and immigrant hunters. The head of the volunteer Minutemen organization is our guest tonight.

Mexican President Vicente Fox says immigration talks between the United States and Mexico are now over, coming just two days before President Fox is scheduled to meet with President Bush in Texas. Their meeting had been billed until today as a summit on immigration reform.


JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Lou, White House officials say that if President Fox viewed it that way, he was simply in error. They say this is a trilateral meeting, President Bush inviting President Fox of Mexico, Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada to come to Waco, Texas, to meet with him to discuss trilateral issues, meaning, the White House says, trade.

The leaders will reaffirm their support for the North American Free Trade Agreement and try to take steps to improve trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

They also will discuss joint steps in the war on terrorism, including border security. And U.S. officials say that is as close -- border security discussions will come as the conversations will come to discussing immigration issues.

Now, it's no secret President Fox has been pushing for some time. He wants the Bush administration to be more aggressive in pushing what the president calls immigration reforms through the Congress.

President Fox, for example, has complained in recent days about a wall built across the U.S./Mexican border south of San Diego. He also, as you just noted, has complained about what he would called vigilante groups that he says are killing, murdering immigrants as they try to come across the border into this country.

Now, the White House says simply that immigration is simply not an issue for these talks, that it is possible that it will come up in some casual conservations between the two leaders but that there are no bilateral sessions scheduled for this brief meeting in Waco, Texas. So, Lou, they will discuss trade, terrorism, and border security, but not immigration.

U.S. officials concede President Fox is not happy about that. They say the president will make clear he hopes Congress passes what he calls that temporary guest worker program sometime this year, but they say it will come up only in passing, to the disappointment, they concede, of the Mexican president -- Lou.

DOBBS: John, this -- this is most peculiar. Both President Fox and President Bush's aides have been talking about immigration reform. This was the focal point. What has happened? Is it simply too hot a political issue now for both men to sustain a summit?

KING: It certainly is too hot of an issue on which there is no progress in the future to come, or no movement. Some would say passing the president's guest worker program would not be progress. They call it amnesty. Mr. Bush says it is not.

But it is not on the congressional agenda any time soon, so they say it is not worthy of discussion at this meeting.

Nor, however, White House officials say, are differences with Canada on the issues of missile defense, and there are some bilateral trade disputes with Canada, as well.

So U.S. officials say the controversial bilateral issues are off the table, at least in any formal way, and these three leaders, Prime Minister Martin, President Bush and President Fox, will discuss issues mostly on which they agree, although there are some disagreements over border security issues

DOBBS: And John, since you pointed out that President Fox refers to the Minutemen, the organization that will be there next month along the Arizona border, he refers to them as vigilantes. We should point out they refer to themselves, and others are beginning to do so, as simply undocumented border patrolmen.

John, thank you very much. John King, our senior White House correspondent. President Fox had plenty to say before he decided to call off the immigration element of talks with President Bush, but not when it came to taking responsibility for the invasion of illegal aliens from Mexico into this country. In fact, President Fox says Mexico has been responsible and very cooperative regarding security along our mutual border.

President Fox says it's impossible for Mexico to set up patrols on their side of the border. He added, "We can't keep them against their will by force."

President Foxes is also convinced that walls don't work, referring to a border fence under construction in the San Diego area, saying, "No country that is proud of itself should build walls."

President Fox also had plenty to say about the Minutemen project, a group of volunteers working to protect our borders. Fox, however, calls the project a migrant-hunting group, saying, "We will use the law, international law and even U.S. law to make sure that these types of groups will not have any opportunity to progress."

President Fox may well consider U.S. laws already on the books, which make those three million so-called migrants crossing into our country each year illegal aliens.

Later in this broadcast I'll be joined by one of the founders of the Minutemen Project and will be talking about President Fox's projects and his group's intentions along the border next month.

A new study shows more than half of the illegal aliens in this country originate from Mexico. In addition, there are far more Mexicans living in the country illegally than legally now.


LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In 2004 there were 11 million Mexicans living in the United States, and more than half, six million of them, were living here illegally, according to a new study by the Pew Hispanic Center.

They found the percentage of illegal Mexican aliens increased dramatically.

JEFFREY PASSEL, PEW HISPANIC CENTER: The vast majority of the new immigrants arriving from Mexico arrive as undocumented immigrants, and by vast majority I mean 80 percent to 85 percent of the immigrants that have been in the country 10 years or less from Mexico are undocumented.

SYLVESTER: Illegal aliens as a group have been branching out to states that in the past did not have a substantial immigrant population, including North Carolina and Colorado.

Most of the illegal aliens have arrived since 1990. In the 1980s, the number of new rivals averaged 130,000 a year; 1990 to '94, 450,000 per year; 1995 to 1999, 750,000 per year; and 2000 to 2004, 700,000 a year.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform says the increase has put a strain on city and state budgets.

IRA MEHLMAN, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: Suddenly the school systems have to educate large numbers of kids who don't speak English. The public health care system becomes the family doctor for most of these people, and there's a variety of other social costs that then have to be picked up by the taxpayers.

SYLVESTER: And the makeup of the illegal population is changing to include more women and children. Now one in six of the illegal population is under the age of 18.


SYLVESTER: The Pew Hispanic Center acknowledges estimating the illegal population is difficult by definition. The group's methodology was to take the totals foreign-born population, based on census figures, and subtract the number of legal immigrants, leaving the total for the illegal population

DOBBS: And we should point out, as you suggest, Lisa, that other estimates range as high as 20 million, most recently a Bear Stearns study showing 20 million illegal aliens in this country, and the most recent and widely reported estimate of those crossing our borders each year illegally, three million a year.

Those millions of illegal aliens are fleeing the dire economic conditions that do exist in Mexico. According to the World Bank, more than half of all Mexican citizens live in poverty. One in five live in extreme poverty. Eighty percent of the agricultural regions of Mexico, in poverty.

The Mexican citizens cross our border illegally. Some of them find work, and many of them send their earnings back to Mexico. Those earnings have added up to nearly $17 billion in the past year. Remittances, as they're called, are expected to become Mexico's primary source of income this year, surpassing the amount of money that Mexico makes on oil exports for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Trade deficit with Mexico for the last year surpassed $45 billion.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are using bank accounts in this country to send those remittances home, and many U.S. banks are now aggressively helping illegal aliens open those accounts. Those banks refer to the practice in the political correct vernacular as banking the unbanked.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wells Fargo is opening 700 new accounts every day for illegal aliens. Since November 2001, it's helped more than half a million people to, as it says, come out from the shadows.

LILIANA SALAS-GRIP, WELLS FARGO: We are not if the business of immigration. We don't question any customer, Latin, American, or any other customer that comes into our financial institution in their legal or illegal status.

And our responsibility as a financial services company is to make sure that all our products and services are available for all customers that come in.

ROMANS: It began with Wells Fargo working closely with the Mexican government. But now almost 200 U.S. banks accept the Mexican I.D. card, the matricula consular, as I.D.

MATT HAYES, FRIENDS OF IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT: On the one hand you have the Border Patrol, whose job it is to intercept illegal aliens as they enter the country. And on the other hand you have the Treasury Department, which is encouraging exactly those illegal aliens if they're able to evade the Border Patrol, to open a bank account once they're here.

ROMANS: Indeed, a senior official said, "It is the policy of the United States that we want people in the formal financial system. It is good for the economy and good for our ability to enforce our laws."

But it is clear the U.S. government is, in fact, making it easier to break U.S. immigration laws. Despite the protests of the IRS and anti-terrorism agencies, the Department of Treasury last year allowed banks to accept the matricula consular and to use tax I.D. numbers to open accounts for illegal aliens.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is encouraging banks to sign up illegal aliens in the banking system, calling the growth of the market "a compelling incentive for U.S. banks to enter this largely untapped market." And the FDIC program demonstrates that unbanked Latin American immigrants can be brought into the financial mainstream.

But there are clear laws on the books for the integrity of the immigration system. United States criminal code, "It is a crime punishable by 10 years in jail for aiding and abetting someone in this country illegally for commercial gain." And the Bank Secrecy Act of 1972 makes it clear banks must know their customer, and any illegal activity must be reported to the government.

Banks and federal regulators all say enforcing immigration laws not their problem. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it focusing on networks smuggling illegal aliens, not the aliens themselves.

ROMANS: So once an illegal alien is in this country, it's now the policy of the U.S. government to get them integrated into legitimate daily life. Terrorism experts say it's not safe. Legal immigrants say it's just not fair.

DOBBS: And it's utter madness. I mean, this is Orwellian, the suggestion by the FDIC that this is tapping into a market that's important and describing this as -- I mean, this is incomprehensible, Christine.

ROMANS: And every one of these agencies says, "We recognize the fact that the laws are important, but it's not our job. We are just dealing with reality."

DOBBS: The fact that the spokeswoman for Wells Fargo could -- and we should not just simply say -- this is about 200 U.S. banks -- saying that it's not their jobs to enforce immigration laws or to follow other laws, the 9/11 Commission recommendation on identification, the FBI saying clearly, unequivocally that the matricula consular should not be accepted, nor should tax I.D. numbers be accepted as identification. And the banker has the temerity to say it's not their job to be good corporate citizens, not to exercise corporate responsibility, it's just their job to grow the business?

ROMANS: And the Treasury Department says it's very important that the banks take responsibility for knowing who their customer is and they're going to trust the banks that they do.

DOBBS: It sort of leaves one wondering what in the world are we thinking about in this country. Christine, thank you. Christine Romans.

Tonight we have a follow-up to our report last week on a major protest outside a California Home Depot store. Several dozen people protesting the company's funding for day labor centers where illegal aliens are known to gather. Tonight, Home Depot says local government and law enforcement officials in many cases have forced to support those centers which are often, often attended by illegal aliens.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Home Depot's future site in Burbank, California. The city is requiring Home Depot to pay $94,000 a year for a day laborer center on the property. Burbank's mayor wouldn't talk to us about the deal, citing an upcoming election and the sensitive nature of the issue, cities providing illegal aliens with day laborer gathering sites on Home Depot property. In nearby El Monte, the police department asked Home Depot to allow them to gather in the company's parking lot and park to reduce petty crime. Home Depot donated material for the facility. The day laborers pay to maintain it. One police official says illegal aliens have a right to work.

*****DET. RICHARD LUNA, EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We respect that right. And essentially these are our citizens who we represent and work for daily.*********

WIAN: We asked Detective Luna about his references to illegal aliens as "citizens."

*********LUNA: We're not involved in immigration. That's not our responsibility.

So we're respecting the rights of all persons here. As much as they could be a victim, they're also a citizen, too. They're contributing to our community, they're working, they're working hard. And as long as they're complying with the rules, we have no problem with them.**********

WIAN: This Home Depot is a site of a different kind of day laborer center. It only finds jobs for documented workers, such as Joseph Corralejo.

JOSEPH CORRALEJO, DAY LABORER: You know, you've got so many people waiting on the corner that, you know, it's a small percentage that get a job. And here you're guaranteed.

WIAN: The day laborers who gather just outside make about $4 an hour more than Corralejo, partly because his employers must pay taxes and insurance.

Home Depot does not operate any of the six day laborer centers it has helped set up. In a statement, the company added, "We have a no solicitation policy, support day laborer centers only at the insistence of local municipalities and as a means to address community concerns. And we do not support illegal immigration."

While cities have required Home Depot to take several different approaches to day laborers, there's little the company can do to keep illegal aliens from gathering near its stores.

WIAN: The city of Rialto, California, says there was a memorandum of understanding with Home Depot to open a day laborer center inside its parking lot. But the city says Home Depot changed its minds two months ago, saying it didn't want day laborers on its property -- Lou.

DOBBS: Do we know if there is a company-wide policy? Because, as you point out, in that instance Home Depot resisting the demands of municipality. Is there a broad company policy on this that would shut this down? WIAN: There is not a broad company policy that would shut it down, because in the Burbank situation it's a condition of doing business for the company. If the company wants to open a new store in Burbank, it had to agree to fund this day laborer center. It's a thorny problem for Home Depot, and, you know, evidence of how our borders are porous.

DOBBS: Indeed, as you say, Casey, a thorny problem for all of us in this country. The idea that a police officer would be saying to both us, to our audience, and to Home Depot, deciding unilaterally that Home Depot must provide a day laborer center, because, in his judgment, an illegal alien is a citizen, that's remarkable, remarkable logic.

WIAN: Absolutely. And he said the word "citizen," referring to illegal aliens and day laborers three times within a minute .

DOBBS: Turning back now to our top story, the invasion of illegal aliens into this country. The federal government's failure to enforce immigration laws has led a group of citizens to take action, trying to help secure our nation's border. The Minuteman Project is a group of about 1,000 American citizens from all over the country, mostly from Arizona, who have come together to patrol the most porous stretch of the Arizona border.

James Gilchrist is the co-founder of the Minuteman Project, and joins us tonight from Irvine, California.

Good to have you with us.

JAMES GILCHRIST, MINUTEMAN PROJECT CO-FOUNDER: Thank you, Lou. It's good to be here.

DOBBS: Today, as John King reported from the White House with Cynthia Fox, the president of Mexico is referring to your group as basically vigilantes, and he's very concerned, calling you migrant hunters.

How would you style yourself?

GILCHRIST: The definition of vigilante is guardian. We're no different than the guardian angels from New York City.

As far as being migrant hunters or hunters of any kind? No, we're a giant neighborhood watch. We have a strict no-contact, no- confrontation policy. As a matter of fact, we will join our adversaries in prosecuting anyone from the Minuteman Project who attempts to harm or even so much as point a finger at an illegal alien. We're there to strictly, Lou, to observe and report that observation to law enforcement, to let law enforcement do its job. That's it.

DOBBS: As you know, there have been those who have suggested there will be hate groups that will take advantage of your organization, that will infiltrate and seek to carry out a hate agenda. What are you doing to prevent that? How concerned are you, and what assurances can you give that that simply will not happen?

GILCHRIST: Lou, there's no 100 percent ironclad insurance that you can stop anyone from doing whatever they want. I give you 9/11. There's nothing we probably could have done to stop that except not have porous borders.

We vet our volunteers as best we can. We have dismissed 1 percent of them because they had bad attitudes, mood swings, road rage. These people will present themselves in a matter of time and we will immediately extricate them from our ranks. We have a number -- almost 80 members of law enforcement among us that know how to do that better than I personally would know how to do it, and they are charged with that responsibility.

DOBBS: There's also concern, as you know, about sidearms, some of the volunteers, they are planning to carry sidearms. I know you yourself do not. How concerned are you about that?

GILCHRIST: Actually, I encourage any law enforcement officer, who, with a concealed weapons permit, to carry. Like you said, personally, I'm discouraging the carry. I don't see the need for it. I don't see the imminent danger that some of the people have put out there as boogiemen to scare us away and intimidate us.

There is one area, Douglas, Arizona, where I would feel a lot differently. I feel that's a very dangerous community.

DOBBS: Why?

GILCHRIST: Just the message board innuendoes, the threats of, if any Minutemen come down there, they will be executed gangland-style.

DOBBS: By who?

GILCHRIST: It started with Mara Salvatrucha; the FBI took them out very swiftly. We were very impressed with their response to their death threats.

DOBBS: Ms-13?

GILCHRIST: Yes.

Other innuendoes coming to me from phone calls of people that I know, who we call our intelligence people, that there are some very sinister people of all races, color and creeds, Lou -- this is this is look like Aryan racist, this is -- they're all races, colors and creeds, who wish us some harm. They want violence.

DOBBS: They want violence, it's going to be, obviously, as you know, incumbent upon you to make sure that that does not happen. I know you're keenly aware of that.

Give us the basis by which you'll judge whether or not the Minuteman Project is a success?

GILCHRIST: The number of volunteers who actually show up. We have 1,022 actively volunteering. We have another 200 in reserve that we haven't activated yet.

DOBBS: Right, but how will you judge whether it's a success? We've got to run, Jim.

GILCHRIST: Oh -- no incident of violence that was caused on our part. And effectively to send the message to Washington, we want our borders sealed, the U.S. immigration laws enforced, and tripling of the budget for U.S. border patrol.

DOBBS: Jim Gilchrist...

GILCHRIST: Thank you.

DOBBS: ...The Minuteman Project. Good to have you with us.

A reminder now to vote in tonight's poll. Earlier in the broadcast we told you about U.S. banks that have decided to help illegal aliens open bank accounts, and that is the subject of our poll tonight. The question: do you believe U.S. banks should be permitted to give illegal aliens bank accounts and, of course, loans, yes or no? _____snip-------

Do you believe U.S. banks should be permitted to give illegal immigrants bank accounts and loans?

Yes 9% 397 votes No 91% 4202 votes Total: 4599 votes

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

Thanks for posting this I didn't get to see it to night. I like that "undocumented border patrolmen".
While reading this the old song "Man on the run" came to mind.... exchanging fox for man.

MAN ON THE RUN
(John Thomas Griffith and Paul Sanchez, Monkey Hill Records, 1994)

I've got the desert in my eyes and western skies on my mind.
Everywhere I look I see wide open country for miles.
Out in the distance there's a mountain the size of the sun
Looks like I ain't drivin nowhere I feel like a man on the run...Get gone

Adobe teardrops are all I'm leaving behind.
I'm somewhere in Texas, I'm lost and don't see the signs
In a bar in New Mexico an old man sells me a gun.
But I ain't shootin' no one, I feel like a man on the run.

CHORUS:
I feel like a man on the run.
Oh-oh-oh Try and catch me!
Oh-oh-oh I've just gotta be free, free, free
Oh-oh-oh Try and catch me!

From San Bernadino I can see the lights of L.A..
The closer they get the further they're slippin' away.
I can almost feel the redemption forgiveness becomes.
I don't forgive anyone, I feel like a man on the run...

And I won't forgive anyone
...and I don't forgive anyone
...and I can't forgive anyone
...so I won't forgive you...that's true.