Thread: Minuteman fence rising on border ranch

http://www.azstarnet.com/news/159758

Minuteman fence rising on border ranch
Rancher pleased with protection of family, land
By Brady McCombs

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.10.2006


Ben Grantham of N and B Fence works on a 17-foot-long post, part of a planned 0.9-mile fence to be erected on rancher Richard Hodges' 372-acre spread. The fence, though it covers only a tiny fraction of the U.S.-Mexican border, is "going to do an awful lot for me personally, as far as protecting my cows, protecting me and my family," Hodges said.
Kelly Presnell / arizona daily star

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is backing its big talk with a big fence.

The volunteer border watch organization has financed and coordinated the construction of a 0.9-mile-long, 13-foot-high steel mesh fence east of Naco. So far, about a quarter mile is finished, with poles and holes marking the progress on the rest of the section.

Although the barrier covers only a tiny section of the 362 miles of international border in Arizona and even less of the nearly 2,000 miles of U.S.-Mexico border, the Minuteman organization insists the impact on illegal immigration will be more than just symbolic.

To area residents like Leonel Urcadez, owner of the Gay 90s bar in Naco, the fence being built on private land in an area where few people travel other than Border Patrol agents, is a harmless boondoggle that won't do anything to stop illegal border crossers.

"What can it possibly do?" said Urcadez. "They'll just go around it."
Richard Hodges, owner of the 372-acre cattle ranch where the fence is being built, agrees the fence won't do much to protect the nation.

But it is "going to do an awful lot for me personally, as far as protecting my cows, protecting me and my family," he said. "What it has done is brought so much attention, an awful lot of attention."

The effect will be twofold, said Al Garza, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps national executive director. First, it will force traffic to the east and west and give the Border Patrol an area it won't have to patrol.

Secondly, it will "let the government know that it's not as difficult to secure the borders as they lead us to believe," Garza said.

The barrier is expected to cost about $650,000, said Peter Kunz, project manager for the Minuteman Fence Project.

It is being paid for by donations from across the United States that go to a separate account dedicated to the fence project. The organization doesn't give out the exact amount of donations, but Kunz said it has received more than $500,000, most in donations between $25 and $500.

Rancher OK'd imposing fence

From the ground, the fence looks formidable. Steel poles cemented 4 feet deep in the ground stand 13 feet high and are connected by steel bars welded together that hold sheets of galvanized mesh steel. The fence can't be easily cut through or climbed over, Minuteman officials say. It is about 100 feet north of the border.

Yet, from the top of a nearby hill that overlooks the valley between Douglas and Naco, the fence appears no more than a slight detour for illegal entrants and smugglers in a wide-open valley marked by 5-foot-high railroad steel vehicle barriers and barbed-wire fence.

"What is one mile when we have hundreds of miles? It's nothing," said Mike Albon, spokesman for Local 2544, a chapter of the National Border Patrol Council, the agency's union. "They go to either to the east or to the west to the end of the fence."

Ernie Rogers, owner of Rogers' Border Service, an auto shop and tow service in Naco, questioned the placement if the goal was to stop illegal entrants.

"That is one of the most-patrolled areas by Border Patrol, anyway," said Rogers, 70, who has been in Naco since 1952. "You would think they would put the fence somewhere else."

The Border Patrol has about 1,000 agents allocated to Cochise County, according to Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. Since peaking in 2000, apprehensions and drug seizures have been decreasing in the Naco/Douglas corridor, said Jesús Rodriguez, the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector spokesman.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which formed in April 2005, has also worked with rancher Jack Ladd, who owns land west of Naco. The group is building 10 miles of five-strand barbed-wire fence that will protect Ladd's cattle, said its president, Chris Simcox.

The organization has been patrolling Hodges' property for a couple of years, Hodges said. When its officials asked to build a steel mesh fence, he gave them an emphatic approval.

Minuteman volunteers began work on the fence in late September before organizers realized it could be dangerous working with heavy steel, said Gene Barbetta, volunteer coordinator for the project.

To avoid liability concerns and to come into compliance with county regulations, they contracted with N and B Fence out of McNeal. Three men from the company work from Monday through Friday. They hope to be finished by February or March, Barbetta said.

Volunteers monitor the border and provide security for the fence and the workers. They've had about 40 volunteers come spend time since September, Barbetta said.

Their presence slows the drug-smuggling traffic considerably, Hodges said: "When they're here, it's incredible, it's just as quiet as can be around my place."

No effect on Border Patrol

Any type of barrier that slows smugglers and forces them to cross by foot rather than vehicle helps, said Border Patrol spokesman Rodriguez. But, since the fence is on private property and set back from the border, it won't change how the agency patrols the area, he said.

Recently erected railroad-steel vehicle barriers line the border in front of the fence in the valley between Naco and Douglas. The improvements are a direct result of the Minutemen bringing attention to the issue, Hodges said.

The group has been influential with the public, Albon agreed. And, as long as they don't interfere with agents' work, which hasn't occurred yet, their presence doesn't bother agents, he said.

Their patrols, however, have little effect on enforcement, Albon said.
But in January, a Drug Enforcement Administration report said the presence of so many volunteer observers on the border in April and May 2005 may have helped deter drug smuggling.

Albon insists that a fence alone won't stop anyone, but the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps leaders think otherwise.

In the organization's master plan, the current fence will someday be a secondary fence. It plans to erect a high-tech 8- to 12-foot--high chain-link fence that will be covered in a special fiber-optic mesh and connected to cameras and sensors, Simcox said.

A company, identified as FOMGuard USA by Kunz, donated $7.8 million of the fencing material for that second phase of construction.

When completed, the 0.9-mile double-layered fence could cost $1.188 million, Kunz said.

Last month, in an attempt to answer critics and accusations by former members of money mismanagement, Minuteman leaders released the nonprofit's federal income-tax filing and an independent financial audit for its 2005 operations.

The audit, by Salmon Beach & Associates of Dallas, showed the Minuteman organization took in about $418,493 in donations and registration fees, but spent $449,667, leaving it $31,174 in the red as it entered 2006.

"As we speak, we have more Minutemen scouting other ventures," Garza said. "Anywhere we can drive a post in, that's where we are going to stop."

On StarNet Find a video of the fence being built and listen to interviews of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteers at azstarnet.com/border

● Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com.
23 Comments on this story

Look, this is all fascinating and I do support the Minuteman effort, but is that all they have to show for their fence is some steel beams concreted into the earth? I've been hearing about their efforts in fencing for months, but have yet to see any real results. Please, can anyone enlighten me as to exactly how many miles of completed fencing the Minutemen have erected up to this point? Thanks.

Don't get me wrong, I support the Minutemen and everything they are doing and have done, but I'm anxious to see some results on a fence I thought would have been finished by now.

I'm not complaining, these people are doing more to help our border problem than our own government, and they are doing it with donations of time and money. Volunteers are always welcome. Excellent job, Minutemen!

Their patrols, however, have little effect on enforcement, Albon said.
But in January, a Drug Enforcement Administration report said the presence of so many volunteer observers on the border in April and May 2005 may have helped deter drug smuggling

I'd say that this little known report expresses the results from the work the MCDC have been doing.

Unintended consequences? Nope. The activity is working.

.

http://www.scripophily.net/klonbiginlan.html

The "Klondike Big Inch" was a promotional campaign by Quaker Harvest Oats in the 1950's. The deeds, for one square inch of Yukon land, were included in cereal boxes. Although it was a very successful marketing enterprise, the deeds were strictly promotional and never entitled holders to any actual land. The land has long ago reverted back to the Crown of Canada.

This might be a way to finance more fence. Americans could buy a deed to a piece of border land for an amount that would erect fence on their piece of the border?

This might be a way to finance more fence. Americans could buy a deed to a piece of border land for an amount that would erect fence on their piece of the border?

That's not a bad idea. Any idea how much this might cost? The problem will be getting someone to coordinate the effort who actually knows how to avoid the loopholes. The ACLU would be all over this.

I was listening to the radio the other day and a caller was talking about a memorial site where a person could donate some money to buy a fence post with the name of a 9/11 victim on it.
Sorry I didn't hear the name of the site but thought it was a good idea.

Peaked at a minutemen forum and they too had this article posted. One comment made was:

I've been reading the comments as they're posted. The Red Star's readers aren't letting much of the bias get by unchallenged. The BP's new camera to be placed on the top of the hill stradling the border gives them 360 degrees surveillance for miles. Our fence made it an easy decision for the BP higher ups to make. It will no longer be a "blind alley" through the saddle between the two hills.

Found a news article I don't believe we ever posted, also found at the minutemen forum:

Minutemen prepare to build high-tech fence

Aug 31, 2006 06:21 AM PDT

David Marino Reports

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps are building another security fence in Cochise County.

Structural engineers began digging Wednesday on rancher Richard Hodges property.

They have one task in mind.

Engineer Lyle Tweet says they're determining, "The types of soil, whether or not it's rock, whether or not it's fractured, how hard it will be to do and drill."

Engineers say they'll have different types of foundation designs in order to adjust to the varying soil conditions.

The Israeli-style fence will include face recognition cameras.

Rancher Richard Hodges has lived in Cochise County his entire life. He says the government's border fence isn't doing the job.

He's ready for a change.

Hodges says, "It's supposed to be a fiber optics fence that can determine when somebody is approaching it, how big they are, how many they are."

Hodges adds, "I'm certainly hoping that anybody that's looking at this corridor for illegal activity, looks at this and says there's no sense in trying and goes elsewhere."

Structural engineers plan to insert the fence posts sometime next month.

They say constructing the fence will be a long process.


Found an older article we have re this fence. Building was held up for awhile.
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... en+prepare
Sounds like a serious well built fence to me.