http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/arti ... e_id=15930

Minutemen head to NNY in week
Civilians will focus on Massena area


By David Winters
Times Staff Writer
Thursday, October 13, 2005

MASSENA -- The Minuteman Project is coming to Northern New York next week.

The civilian group engaged in an ongoing effort to stem illegal immigration from Mexico hopes to duplicate its success along the Canadian border. A Hopkinton man will be among about 40 volunteers watching the U.S.-Canadian border near the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation on Oct. 22 and 23 to catch illegal immigrants.

"The reservation is known as a place for goods and persons to have been smuggled across for years," said Miles D. Wolpin, a former Hopkinton town justice and retired Potsdam State University College political science professor.

The Minuteman Project formed about a year ago after concerns arose about the number of immigrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico. Its first patrols were in Arizona.

"We are mainly interested in dramatizing the utter failure of the Bush administration -- to protect the border and patrol the border. To effectively enforce the immigration laws of this country," Mr. Wolpin said.


The group will center its efforts on Massena but won't enter the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

"We'll be the eyes and ears of the Border Patrol in that area," said New York Minuteman Project spokesman Peter Lanteri in a telephone interview Wednesday from Three Points, Ariz. "If we spot someone, we will contact the Border Patrol."

The group of about 40 volunteers will come mostly from around the state, but some will travel from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Each volunteer pays $50, which covers the cost of a background check, to participate.

"It is just a neighborhood watch," Minuteman Project national spokeswoman Connie Hair said. "They are looking for illegal immigrants coming across the border. When they see something, they will pick up a telephone and call the Border Patrol."

Mr. Lanteri said he didn't know whether the group's presence would draw protesters.

Border Patrol spokesman Ross DeLacy wasn't available for comment Wednesday.