Thread: Minutemen Project Rallies In Washington

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0506/327250.html

From ABC 7 News:
Minutemen Project Rallies In Washington
Location: Washington, D.C.
Posted: May 12, 2006 6:20 PM EST

Washington, D.C. (AP) - Reflecting the American divide over immigration, protesters on both sides stood a few feet from each other near the Capitol shouting chants and exchanging accusations of racism.

The protesters were kept apart Friday by helmeted police officers who stood inside a ring of yellow police tape.

A Minuteman Project rally marked the end of a cross-country caravan by the anti-immigration group, whose members patrol the U.S.-Mexican border in search of illegal border crossers. The caravan began in Los Angeles.

Minuteman demonstrators, who numbered less than 100, castigated an immigration bill before the Senate next week that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at American citizenship.

"They are literally going to shove an amnesty down our throats," said Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist.

As the group held its hourlong rally, about 20 pro-immigrant demonstrators shouted, "No Minutemen. No KKK. No Fascist USA!" Gilchrist responded by telling the counter protesters to "Get out of my face."

The Minuteman rally was tiny compared with the pro-immigrant marches and protests held across the country in the past month.

Bud Peters, 40, of Kingman, Ariz., said it was the size of those protests that motivated him to ride his motorcycle from Kingman for Friday's rally.

"I knew (illegal immigration) was big in my state, but I didn't realize it was that bad here. It woke a lot of people up," said Peters, a general contractor who says he does not hire illegal immigrants.

On the other side, David Benzaquen, 22, who immigrated from Morocco with his parents and is now a U.S. citizen, said, "It's absolutely imperative to get amnesty for immigrants who come here. Without it, we wouldn't have the industries and economy the way we have."

A contentious debate is expected next week in the Senate, and President Bush plans to address the nation Monday night on the issue. Bush has called for a comprehensive bill that would allow some illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. as guest workers.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 139763.php

Friday, May 12, 2006

Minutemen face chants in Washington, D.C.
Media members outnumber both sides as anti-illegal immigration group reaches the nation's capitol. Most of the legislators have left for the weekend. All is peaceful (if noisy).

By DENA BUNIS
The Orange County Register

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Minuteman Project cross-country caravan ended in the nation's capitol this morning as a hearty and loud group of fewer than 100 verbally faced off with a smaller group protesting the Minutemen's anti-illegal immigration message.

In the shadow of the Capitol under clear spring skies, the demonstrators on both sides of the issue made their case to each other, but mostly to the news media. Most of the lawmakers their message was aimed at had long since left Washington for the weekend.

News reporters, photographers and camera operators outnumbered them all as Capitol police set up a demilitarized zone with yellow police tape to make sure the two groups stayed apart. All was peaceful.

The hour-long rally consisted of several speakers and some chanting from both groups.

Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist of Aliso Viejo was hailed as a hero. As he walked up to the small podium set up in a park across from the Senate side of the Capitol, there was a groundswell of applause and cheering.

Joining Gilchrist were other leaders of his organization and Barbara Coe, the Huntington Beach resident who founded California Coalition for Immigration Reform. Many of the spectators carried American flags and signs.

"The fate of our nation hangs in the balance," Coe told the crowd. "The future and the future of our children is in the hands of just a few elected officials."

President Bush, who supports a comprehensive bill, was singled out by most of the speakers for distain.

"Vicente Bush!" one spectator shouted out, in a reference to Mexico's president, Vicente Fox. "Traitor!" said others.

Bush will be addressing the nation Monday from the Oval Office on immigration and is expected to restate his support for legislation that combines enforcement with a guest-worker program.

"Secure our borders," "What about illegal don't you understand?" and "As Americans we say no to amnesty," said some of the placards on the Minuteman side of the demonstration.

"No one is illegal," said a big banner held high above the crowd on the other side of the park.

Chuck Kaufman, a Washington, D.C., resident who works for nonprofit organization the Nicaraguan Network, said an e-mail alert to come to the Senate park began circulating early this morning. "We're all immigrants unless we're American Indians," Kaufman said. "As long as borders don't exist for capital, they can't exist for labor, either."

As the speakers gave their message, those who support the kind of legislation that will be brought back to the floor Monday chanted in the background.

"We're here and we're not leaving," the demonstrators said in Spanish. "Minutemen are bigots in suits and ties. We don't want your racist lies," they said as Gilchrist spoke.

"Law enforcement is here to protect our rights that are being stripped from us by those anarchists," Gilchrist said, referring to the line of Capitol police that stood between the two groups.

"I have but one compelling remark for the real racists of the 21st century, those people assembled behind you: Go to hell!'' Gilchrist shouted, in a chant picked up by the Minuteman supporters. "The multiethnic Minuteman Project will survive with or without you racist scum. Now get out of my face, I'm tired of hearing from ya!" he said.

Gilchrist said he was not disappointed by the small crowd compared with the hundreds of thousands who have been marching in the streets this spring in favor of a plan to let millions of undocumented immigrants get legal status.

"We're going to win this contest because our supporters do not have to come into the streets and get into buses paid for by some billionaire to create a big news spot," Gilchrist said in an interview while waiting to address his supporters. "We appeal to people who vote. They stay at home. They watch the media. We're using the media to our advantage. We don't need one or two million people to show up here in person. We've already gotten their votes and we've gotten their support from home."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01925.html

Minutemen Assail Amnesty Idea

By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 13, 2006; B03



A relatively small but ardent group of protesters organized by the Minuteman group rallied against illegal immigration on Capitol Hill yesterday, lambasting President Bush and the U.S. Senate for considering legislation to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

"They are literally going to shove amnesty down our throats," Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist said to the applause of about 150 people. "If they pass this, we are no longer a nation governed by the rule of law. We are governed by mob rule."

The protest capped a cross-country trip by the Minutemen to build opposition to the legislation, which regained momentum this week when senators reached a compromise on the bill. The caravan began in Los Angeles last week and stopped for rallies in a dozen towns and cities, including Bush's home town of Crawford, Tex., as well as Memphis and Richmond.

The Minutemen rose to prominence last year when they began organizing armed citizen patrols along the U.S.-Mexico border, a move credited with helping to ignite the debate that has dominated Washington in recent months. Nationwide, huge numbers of immigrants have protested legislation passed by the House late last year that would result in mass deportations and make it a felony to assist illegal residents.

The Senate legislation would allow certain illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship after paying a fine and create a temporary guest-worker program, while also strengthening border security. Bush has indicated tacit support for the legislation. Yesterday, senior administration officials said Bush is considering shoring up the Mexican border with National Guard troops in an effort to build support for the legislation.

Gathered in a park by the Russell Senate Office Building, the protesters said that the Senate and Bush have betrayed the nation to curry favor with Hispanics and other immigrants. They spoke particularly harshly of Bush, who has criticized those on the group's border patrols as "vigilantes."

"History will record this act of treachery, and we as citizens must never forget it," said Barbara Coe, co-author of California's Proposition 187 to deny public benefits to illegal immigrants.

Over and over, the protesters said they support legal immigration and oppose only the flouting of the nation's laws by millions of illegal residents. They carried signs reading "Sovereignty Is Not Racism" and "Invasion Is Not Immigration."

Loudly challenging them were a few dozen people gathered nearby, a mix of immigration advocates and other activists who tried to drown out the Minutemen with drums and bullhorns. "Bigots in your suits and ties, we don't want your racist lies!" they chanted. Police tape separated the groups, and when it was removed after the rally, the counter-protesters advanced on the Minutemen before officers on motorcycles intervened.

The counter-protesters mocked the size of the Minuteman rally, noting that it was dwarfed by the pro-immigrant marches. "They claim to have a million members, but this is their big national rally," said David Benzaquen, 22, an American University student.

Gilchrist said the turnout was modest because most critics of illegal immigration are "average Janes and Joes" too busy working to attend rallies. He said their voices would be heard in the 2006 and 2008 elections, predicting that anyone with an anti-amnesty platform could win 40 percent of the vote.

Mike Olcott, 47, who joined the caravan in Texas, said it numbered about 15 or 20 cars for most of that stretch and drew varied crowds along the way -- very few in Little Rock but about 300 in Atlanta, where supporters showered the group with cash for gas and motels (money that, in some road-trip humor, several caravan members told Gilchrist they blew on beer).

Yesterday's rally included supporters who traveled on their own from California, New Hampshire, North Carolina and elsewhere.

There were also some Washington area residents who said they were not affiliated with the group but attended to register their anger over what they saw as a wave of illegal immigrants overwhelming their communities. Several said they took heart in the recent town election in Herndon, in which the mayor and two council members who supported a town-sponsored site for day laborers were turned out of office.

Hedy Ross, an editorial assistant from Silver Spring, came to the rally with her 13-year-old daughter, saying she had grown "very upset" about immigrants overcrowding her daughter's classes.

Ross said she suspects that there are many who feel the same way she does but are wary of doing anything about it. "A lot of people have their head in the sand," she said.