Thread: Minutemen: Illegals drain U.S. taxpayers

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Minutemen: Illegals drain U.S. taxpayers
By MARION CALLAHAN
Bucks County Courier Times

Poised at the Mexican border, they had their night-vision goggles, lawn chairs, flashlights and cell phones.

Topics: Minuteman Project, illegal immigration, border security, Congress, laws, gangs, crime, terrorism)

They fanned out, covering 2,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border. And for two weeks last spring, they pledged to do what they say the American government is too short-staffed to do: patrol the borders to keep illegal immigrants out.

Members of two Warminster groups took part in the controversial border patrol watches, known as the Minutemen Project. The effort was designed to show their opposition to illegal immigration and voice their demand for increased border enforcement.

For them, the two-week civilian patrol effort wasn't just about making a statement.

"We are protecting the rights and liberties of American citizens," said June Pirotin, a founding member of Warminster-based Pennsylvanians Against Illegal Immigration. "If you come here legally, that's wonderful. But if you don't, you don't deserve the benefits owed to American citizens."

Pirotin said he learned about the Minuteman Project in January and set out in March to participate in the civilian watch. His group is opposed by the Bush administration - which dubbed them "vigilantes." The American Civil Liberties Union also opposes the Minuteman Project.

After Quakertown resident John Ryan returned to Bucks County from his border watch, he said he recruited the help of Pennsylvanians Against Illegal Immigration and launched the Pennsylvania Minutemen.

The group's first meeting was held Wednesday in Warminster, a town with a fast-growing Latino population. "We are concerned and upset to see the dismantling of the country right before our eyes," said Ryan.

At the meeting, Minutemen Project participant Dottie Dalton displayed T-shirts designed for the group. They read: "No guts, No Old Glory." Posters reading "Deport Illegal Aliens" lined the tables.

"We love immigrants; we came from immigrants. It's the illegals we're trying to stop. Once they cross the line, they've won the lottery - and we're paying for it, " said Dalton. He said employers who hire illegal immigrants should be penalized.

It didn't take long for others at the meeting to join the conversation.

"People we know can't get health insurance, but they [illegal immigrants] can?" one man shouted. Another added, "How many times do we hear they pay taxes? That's a lot of nonsense."

Calling the group to order, Ryan said, "This group will grow when people realize how much money is coming out of their pockets."

Wearing a T-shirt, reading "Undocumented U.S. Border Patrol," he encouraged attendees to "educate" their neighbors about the illegal immigrants whom he says are "flooding our borders and bankrupting our hospitals."

He said illegal immigrants are straining the country's education and healthcare systems at the expense of the middleclass. Others slammed businesses that offer signs in Spanish and schools that offer bilingual education.

Pirotin, of Buckingham, said she believes the Mexican government publishes pamphlets on how to get to into the United States and receive health care and food stamps.

"Where is the fairness? We are paying taxes and [providing] services to people who break the law, and politicians turn a blind eye to it," she said.

On Saturday, Ryan was joined by about a dozen members of the local chapter of the Minutemen and the Pennsylvanians Against Illegal Immigration who gathered in Center City for a protest on Market Street. The two groups, who share the same philosophy, wanted their protest to coincide with the annual conference of The National Council for La Raza, a civil rights group for Latinos.
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Ryan said he believes La Raza is encouraging illegal immigrants to reclaim territory in the Southwest.

He said his motives aren't racist.

"None of us has a racist bone in our bodies. The fact that many illegal immigrants are Mexican is nothing personal. Our actions are based on a concern for our country," he said.

La Raza officials see such groups and their efforts as divisive, offering few solutions and creating hostility against all Latinos.

Clarissa Martinez, press officer for the Washington, D.C.-based organization, said La Raza and these groups have something in common.

"We agree that the immigration system in the United States is broken," she said. "If we don't do something to fix the system, it leads to unfair competition and exploitation of workers," Martinez said. "We understand that the country has the right to secure its borders. We understand the frustrations; Latinos are frustrated, too."

Martinez said a large number of anti-immigration groups have sprouted up across the country in recent years in response to that frustration. She said a growing number of Latino community organizations are being targeted for threats and hate mail. Groups like the Minutemen only worsen the problem, she said.

"Americans can't guard the border themselves, nor does the government welcome that," she said. "It raises opportunities for violence to occur. They are looking for a easy way to tap into people's frustrations and create an anti-immigrant backlash."

Meanwhile, bills are pending in the U.S. Senate to create guest-worker programs for the millions of illegal residents who are already here. La Raza is behind a proposal introduced in May by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) that would allow illegal immigrants to apply for temporary work visas.

Marge Adelsberger, of Willow Grove, who helped formed Pennsylvanians Against Illegal Immigrants in early 2004, said such proposals "cater" to people breaking the law. She said the Warminster group doesn't want to see more laws. "We need the ones we have enforced," she said.

"We are against the invasion of our country," said Adelsberger, who opposes bilingual education and the granting of drivers' licenses, welfare benefits and healthcare to illegal immigrants. "These people are breaking into our home, which is the U.S. and taking everything they can get a hold of and sending it back to their country."

Aside from meetings, the group's members circulate petitions to get signatures in support of restricting benefits to illegal immigrants.

At Wednesday night's meeting, Dalton played a video of a protest in California that turned violent when counter-protesters began throwing objects at the crowd. Dalton, who was hit in the head by a glass bottle, said protesters and counter-protesters are common at public events - especially when volunteering at the border.

"At one point, we had the FBI watching the ACLU watching Minutemen watching illegal immigrants," she said.

But she insisted, "The Minutemen come in peace, without raising our voices or fists. We're there to observe and report. You don't want to face off with these people who are calling you a racist. This is nothing to do with racism. It's about our borders and security - which isn't there."

Marion Callahan can be reached at 215-345-3166 or mcallahan@phillyBurbs.com.

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