Thread: Minutemen to patrol in New Mexico, Arizona over weekend

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Minutemen to patrol in New Mexico, Arizona over weekend
Jan 20, 2006, 08:38 AM PST
COLUMBUS, N.M. -- At least two dozen members of the civilian Minuteman Civil Defense Corps plan to patrol southern New Mexico near Columbus over the weekend, looking for illegal immigrants from Mexico.


Volunteers from New Mexico, Colorado and California will patrol the border through Sunday, said organizer Bob Wright.

It will be the first time the group has been in southern New Mexico since members spent October patrolling in the Hatchita area. That month, the organization said it reported 20 people crossing illegally; the U.S. Border Patrol said it was not possible to tell how many reports immigrants came specifically from the Minuteman.

In first weekend of patrolling in October, Minuteman volunteers did not detect any illegal immigrants, although a Border Patrol spokesman reported that Saturday as busy, with captures of 63 illegal immigrants in the Lordsburg sector, which includes Hachita, and 136 in the Deming sector.

Wright said the organization hopes to schedule more regular patrols in southern New Mexico.

Arizona members of the Minuteman plan a weekend patrol in the Three Points area southwest of Tucson. Some 50 to 65 volunteers are expected along three to four miles of a dirt road off Arizona 286, said Stacey O'Connell, head of the organization's Arizona chapter.

Three Points, about 35 miles north of the border, has become a popular pickup point over the last year or so for smugglers to get migrants who have made their way north, on foot or in vehicles, to Tucson and Phoenix.

Volunteers patrolled part of the Arizona-Mexico border near Naco last April, reporting sightings of illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol. The effort garnered national attention and served to launch similar patrols in other parts of the country.

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Minutemen returning to New Mexico

Last Update: 01/20/2006 8:19:29 AM
By: Associated Press


DEMING, N.M. (AP) - The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is returning to New Mexico’s southern border.

The group’s organizer, Bob Wright, says at least two dozen Minuteman members from New Mexico, Colorado and California will patrol the border with Mexico in Luna County this weekend.

It’s the first time the private organization has returned to Luna County since a month-long patrol in October.

This time the group plans to patrol around Columbus. Wright says the group hopes to schedule regular watches in the area.

Minuteman volunteers also are to watch the border near Three Points, Arizona, this weekend.