http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/Columns/Rat/08rat.htm

Vigilantes Take Over When Government Doesn’t Act

“Will Texas be next?� is a question lawmakers are asking themselves as they view the planned invasion of the Minuteman Project along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona beginning on April Fool’s Day.

The group of self-appointed border watchers, that currently includes 29 Texans and is drawing volunteers from throughout the nation, is seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of the border patrol in keeping illegal aliens from crossing over into the United States.

A spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington is concerned that “middlemen� on the border could result in the violation of the rights of illegal immigrants and skew the efforts of the border patrol in doing its job.

The project was founded by James Gilchrist, a Vietnam veteran who lives in California, who has said he will “defend our country and will not allow for some criminals and drug traffickers to enter.�

Although the Minutemen Project volunteers claim they are not vigilantes poised to take the law into their own hands, some civil rights organizations don’t buy into the tactics and claim the volunteers are not educated about the problems of border control activity and there could be international repercussions.

Ideally, competent authorities should deal with the problem, but when government fails to act and the citizens have had enough, such a gesture by the Minutemen Project could bring attention to how ineffective the government has been at regulating its border.

Depending upon how brightly Arizona’s test shines in the limelight, Texas could be next.