Thread: Minutemen heading for Texas border

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Minutemen heading for Texas border
Web Posted: 09/29/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer

There's little doubt that a civilian border-watch effort meant to deter undocumented immigrants will kick off in Texas this weekend. How many volunteers will actually show up, and which faction of the once-united front they'll join, is in question.

The original Minuteman Project brought dozens of people from across the country to Arizona in April to become de facto border agents. Pledging to continue the headline-grabbing mission, organizers say thousands will take to the four U.S. southern border states starting Saturday.

Just as in Arizona, opponents plan to protest and monitor their activities. The Border Patrol is also sticking to its original message: Thanks, but no thanks.

Texas will see a hodgepodge of groups, from both the original project and dissenters who have launched their own ventures.

Followers of Chris Simcox, one of the two Arizona organizers, will be joining the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas. But Simcox's hard-line leadership style alienated some Arizona participants, leading to the formation of the separate Texas Minutemen and U.S. Border Watch groups.

The groups can work separately, since they share the same objective and Texas is a big state, leaders said.

"They have no reason to be in our area and we have no reason to be in theirs," said Shannon McGauley, co-founder of Texas Minutemen.

Volunteers will be armed, but organizers said their purpose will be solely to watch for undocumented immigrants and report them to the Border Patrol.

Al Garza, an Arizona man originally from the Rio Grande Valley, is Simcox's right-hand man in Texas. He said this week he was still strategizing deployment of as many as 500 trained participants.

Operations will be based in private ranches near Falfurrias, but Garza said teams also might be dispatched to El Paso, Laredo, Del Rio and the Valley, depending on turnout.

Michael Vickers, a Falfurrias veterinarian, said he expected his 1,000 acres to host at least 300 of Garza's troops by Saturday. They'll be spread among 100 three-person stations along a 50-mile line across popular migrant-smuggling trails on ranches from Falfurrias to Hebbronville, he said.

As many as 30 volunteer pilots will report movement in the patrolled area, Vickers said.

Observers won't use weapons unless it's in self-defense, Vickers said. And, if asked, they will provide water to migrants.

They still face the danger of being confronted by smugglers, but Vickers remained confident the operation will go smoothly. A test run this month with 25 volunteers went well, leading to the bust of a group of 47 illegal crossers by the Border Patrol, he said.

The other two volunteer groups, predicted to be smaller, have joined forces to patrol a 50-mile stretch of the border from El Paso to Fort Hancock.

McGauley, a private investigator in Arlington, said he expected to have around 100 people stationed along the border divided into teams about a half-mile apart.

Curtis Collier, leader of U.S. Border Watch, said he'll have 40 to 50 volunteers split into 10 teams that will rove Interstate 10.

Organizers said they've alerted the Border Patrol of their plans, but agency spokesmen in the Valley and El Paso said no one has called them. Though they have a right to be in the area, the agency won't be welcoming them.

"Even though we appreciate members of the public reporting suspicious activity, we prefer to have trained agents performing the job of homeland security," said Doug Mosier, spokesman in El Paso.

Immigrant advocacy groups won't be pleased to see the Minutemen in Texas, either. The American Civil Liberties Union will have 150 trained observers in the area, though organizers know their mission will be limited since they can easily be kept off private property.

Advocates' main concern is that Minuteman groups are being infiltrated by white supremacists who want to use the event for xenophobic purposes.

The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center identified members of the supremacist group National Alliance taking part in the original mission in Arizona.

"Redneck behavior" is primarily what made Bill Parmley quit a short-lived Goliad group, he said.

Parmley, whom Simcox had appointed as his point man in Texas, created the chapter and supervised other branches in the state before abruptly resigning in July.

Parmley said he tried to have a white supremacist banned from meetings in Goliad, but other group members, whom he accused of plotting to undermine local Hispanic officials, overruled him.

"It's all a fraud," said Parmley, accusing Simcox of using members' $50 dues to build a nest egg for a future political campaign. "The Minuteman cause is very captivating at first, but at the end it's just a bunch of inexperienced people parading around with loaded guns."

Simcox and other organizers deny such accusations. Parmley's case, they maintain, was simply a misunderstanding.

QUOTE: Organizers said they've alerted the Border Patrol of their plans, but agency spokesmen in the Valley and El Paso said no one has called them. Though they have a right to be in the area, the agency won't be welcoming them.
QUOTE:
"Even though we appreciate members of the public reporting suspicious activity, we prefer to have trained agents performing the job of homeland security," said Doug Mosier, spokesman in El Paso.

THE TRUTH:
The truth is, the Border Patrol love and appreciate The Minuteman Project.
But if they were to "speak the truth", the head border patrol agent who lives in the White House would say, "you're fired."

Just for the record, I just left the grocery store, where a group of people were waiting at the deli, and a really great man had a discussion going on about none other than the famous Minutemen. Of course, I was more than happy to join in on that conversation , and I'll tell you what every single one of the people had only words of praise and appreciation for the Minutemen. The man said someday soon we might all see each other again at a protest!! I liked that man. He is a smart man and he gave me hope for our country.

Listening to KHOW this morning, I heard something that made me think. They brought up a point about the ACLU. A few years back Mayor Webbs wife started a Marade here in Denver for Martin Luther Kings holiday. I guess there was a protest at the Capital where it leads to an end by the KKK and Neo-NAZI pukes. The ACLU backed them and pushed for their right to do so, and in doing so they lost a lot of donations since then.

Now the way the fascists in America think, it makes complete sense for them to pander to the illegals for donations by throwing the race card for them. Not only will they get donations from the illegals and their supporters but they are trying to change the bad image they made them selves by supporting the Neo-NAZI pukes.

The most I could find on the issue are the following URLs:

http://www.ccmep.org/2004_articles/c...us_on_real.htm
http://www.refuseandresist.org/polic...t.php?aid=1225
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/proj...ludefends.html