Thread: Citizen Volunteers for Border Patrol

The head of the Border Patrol made a wonderful suggestion in the past couple of days. He actually proposed that they seek and use citizen volunteers to patrol the border. He seemed to have a whole lot of support for his idea UNTIL Michael Chertoff, Director of Homeland Security, got wind of this. Below is an article in which the Department of Homeland Security nixes this little idea!

<<Back


Homeland Security backs off idea of civilian border patrol groups





LOS ANGELES The government is backing off the idea of organizing citizen volunteers to help patrol U-S borders, a day after the head of border protection said the idea was being considered.

The Homeland Security Department issued a statement saying the job of patrolling the border "should continue to be done by ... highly trained, professional law enforcement officials."

On Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner said his agency was considering the formation of "something akin to a Border Patrol auxiliary." Bonner said the surge of support for the Minuteman Project, a grassroots civilian border patrol organization, had prompted officials to think about training and organizing such groups.

Bonner's agency is part of Homeland Security, which already has programs for civilian volunteers such as Citizen Corps, which helps coordinate preparedness activities.

Lou Dobbs covered this last night and he made the statement that the White House must have heard about this GREAT idea and rushed their opposition to the Department of Homeland Security. Lou also interview one of the leaders of the Minutemen Project who said that Mr. Bonner's suggestion was a great one but he wasn't surprised that the administration who called the Minutemen "vigilantes" put the kibosh on that idea--and FAST!

I don't see anything different between the Minute Man Project and a Neighborhood Watch Program. Law Enforcement agencies have been using neighborhood watch programs for years. It's a good crime prevention tool. You see something out of the ordinary and you report it. We should be reporting employers that hire illegal immigrants, unusually crowded houses, etc..

Frankly, I think it's a brilliant idea and I hope it goes forward.