Minuteman Blog Central

Gary Martin
San Antonio Express-News Washington Bureau
Saturday, October 8, 2005

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers urged President Bush on Friday to abandon his push for a guest-worker program until the strict enforcement of immigration laws is achieved along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The lawmakers drew a line in the political sand as the House and Senate prepare to debate sweeping immigration reform proposals prompted by the president''s plea to revamp current laws with border enforcement and a temporary work program.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said increased enforcement of immigration laws at the border is essential before Congress considers a guest-worker program.

"We have lost control of our borders and endangered the lives of Americans by not enforcing immigration laws," he said.

Smith penned a letter to the White House signed by 82 Republican members of the House of Representatives who urged Bush to back off on his guest-worker proposal and concentrate on border enforcement.

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Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, filed a bill Friday that would increase fines on businesses for hiring undocumented workers.

Gonzalez accused Congress of demagoguery in the debate over illegal immigration, while failing to penalize and prosecute employers and businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers.

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Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a second hearing on comprehensive immigration reform proposals for Oct. 18.

A bill by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would create a temporary worker program and allow undocumented immigrants in this country an opportunity to enroll after paying fines and penalties for entering the country illegally.

Hispanic rights and pro-immigration groups have endorsed the McCain-Kennedy bill, which would also provide an avenue for citizenship.

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has filed a similar bill in the House.

Other legislation by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would create a guest-worker program, but would not provide a path for citizenship.

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Recent reports and studies estimate 11 million immigrants are in this country illegally.

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Thanks to the efforts of the Minuteman volunteers and our supporters across the country, Congress is starting to take steps to secure the borders after years of neglect.

KVOA-TV 4 in Tucson reports the Yuma County Sheriff''s Department has acquired a nine-ton armored vehicle to protect its deputies from attacks by gun firing and rock throwing smugglers on the border.

The Border Patrol in Yuma will also have a smaller armored vehicle in use soon.

KVOA says these will be the first vehicles the law enforcement agencies have to protect their officers from gunfire.

Maj. Leon Wilmott of the Yuma Sheriff''s Department is quoted as saying in the first six months of this year law enforcement agencies in the area have documented 167 assaults, 104 rock throwing attacks and 6 incidents of guns being fired at officers.

The headline we used is in jest, but if the Yuma Sheriff offered a civilian ride-along program in the armored vehicle, we''re sure there''d be no shortage of Minuteman volunteers who''d leap at the chance.

Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Littwin, wrote an opinion piece that mocks Colorado state Representative Dave Schultheis for carrying a 9 mm handgun for protection when he recently went on night border watch patrols with the Minutemen and two fellow Colorado representatives in Arizona.

We wonder if Mr. Littwin will take back his mockery of Rep. Schultheis after learning that law enforcement in the area, armed with much more powerful firearms than just a 9 mm, deem it necessary to protect their officers on patrol by having them ride in armored vehicles.

The Senate passed a bill yesterday, HR 2360, previously approved by the House of Representatives that calls for increased funding of the U.S. Border Patrol. The bill now goes to the White House for President Bush''s signature.

The funding is part of a homeland security package that attempts to prioritize the allocation of spending on transit security, first responders, border patrols and disaster relief.

Combined with previously passed emergency funding, 1500 new Border Patrol agents will be paid for this coming year.

Also in the bill is funding for 250 new investigators and 460 detention personnel.

Associated Press article here.

Congress is starting to heed the call of the Minutemen volunteers for beefed up security on our borders. More is needed to be done, but this is encouraging for now.

DNC Chair Howard Dean Attacks Minutemen
MCDC chastises Dean for race baiting

TOMBSTONE, AZ (October 8, 2005) – Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, in a sick and stunningly opportunistic attempt to profit politically from the recent heinous murders of six immigrant farm workers in Georgia, released a statement yesterday blaming the Minutemen border watch movement for somehow inciting this crime.

In his blatant attempt at race baiting, Dean – carrying on the despicable tradition of racial demagoguery practiced by such Democrats as Bull Connor, Orval Faubus and Rep. Charles Rangel – yesterday accused the Minutemen of “spread(ing) fear and hatred in America.”

Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), made the following statement:

“By Howard Dean’s logic, Dean’s fellow Democrats, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, are responsible for any hate crime perpetrated against Hispanics in their states, because both Democrat governors have declared states of emergency on their respective borders with Mexico.

“Governors Richardson and Napolitano are not spreading fear and hatred in America, nor are the Minutemen. We are bringing attention to the dire national security crisis, and to an immigration policy that has created a condition of catastrophic lawlessness and vulnerability at our wide-open borders.

“Dean ignores the fact that most crimes committed against illegal immigrants are perpetrated by members of well-established illegal immigrant gangs – run by international criminal cartels ruthlessly trafficking drugs, weapons, and impoverished migrants into our sovereign territory. These gangs prey on illegal immigrants and our citizens alike, in communities all across America. Securing our borders is pro-immigrant. Once the borders are secured, all who come here through legal ports of entry will be required to have legal status thus barring criminals and gang members from entry.

“It is irresponsible rhetoric like Dean’s that makes it more difficult for serious people to remedy a situation that leaves America vulnerable to terrorist attacks and organized crime – which brutalizes, oppresses and violently exploits the least fortunate among us. Dean should leave behind the contemptible race-baiting politics of the 19th and 20th Centuries and join those of us who are trying to solve America’s 21st Century problems.”

MCDC is conducting a month-long border watch program this October called “Secure Our Borders.” An estimated four thousand trained Minuteman volunteers will participate in non-confrontational border watch efforts on America''s northern and southern borders. Minutemen act as extra eyes and ears for the Border Patrol and will report directly to authorities any sightings of border crossings at other than legal ports of entry.

Now one from the "When you''re taking flak, you''re over the target" column:

Right in line with his usual penchant for divisive and hate-filled remarks, Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, issued a statement, today "paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee," sickeningly seeking to profit politically from the recent heinous murders of six immigrant farm workers in Georgia. He also manages to somehow blame the Minutemen.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of the recent attacks against Hispanic immigrants in Georgia, as they cope with the senseless violence. No one, undocumented or otherwise, should ever have to fear for their safety because of their ethnicity or economic status. Democrats are committed to taking affirmative steps to promoting tolerance and understanding in America.

"I call on President Bush to use his photo-op with Hispanics today to condemn anti-immigrant violence, and to call on extremist members of his own party to end their anti-immigrant rhetoric and support for the Minutemen vigilante group, both of which are helping spread fear and hatred in America." -- Howard Dean

Herein lies proof that Dr. Dean includes race baiting as part of his long and illustrious list of abuses of the English language. Is anyone really surprised?

We would like to remind Dr. Dean that the Minutemen do not oppose immigration, we oppose illegal immigration. Words mean things, Doctor.

Mexican Protesters Vow Mexican National Guard Will Confront Minutemen on the California Border This Weekend

TOMBSTONE, AZ (October 7, 2005) A group of Mexican and Mexican-Americans demonstrating against the presence of citizen volunteers participating in the month-long Secure Our Borders operation by the Minuteman Corps of California, an authorized chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), in the O’Neil Valley near San Diego today vowed to return on Saturday with the Mexican National Guard to confront the Minutemen.

Speaking from the Mexican side of the border, members of the protest group made up of Mexican nationals and US citizens with dual citizenship told Tim Donnelly, leader of the Minuteman Corps of California, that they would return on Saturday with more than 300 members of the Mexican National Guard to confront the Minutemen in their efforts to act as a neighborhood watch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Donnelly has been conversing this week with Mexican nationals, one of whom holds a position with the Calexico, California city government. Calexico, a border town in the United States of America, flies only the Mexican flag over its town hall.

“Interest in the Minutemen has been building all week on the other side of the border near East San Diego County,” Donnelly said. “We’ve been conversing with our adversaries hoping to come to some mutual understanding of the issues and alleviate their concerns over our intentions.”

“Our main purpose is to help secure America’s borders by being extra eyes for the authorities,” Donnelly continued. “In that regard we have been successful. A little over 100 ordinary Americans including grandmothers holding Chihuahuas and American flags have effectively sealed off one of the most heavily trafficked areas for illegal points of entry in San Diego County.”

“We hope that if members of the Mexican National Guard do arrive at our location near the border tomorrow that they will be there to help stop illegal crossings and drug smuggling along the porous border shared by California and Mexico,” Donnelly added.

MCDC is conducting a month-long border watch program this October called Secure Our Borders. An estimated four thousand trained Minuteman volunteers will participate in non-confrontational patrols of the northern and southern borders. They will report to authorities any sightings of illegal border crossings by suspected illegal immigrants, smugglers and potential terrorists.

In a rare statement of support from the United States Senate, Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announces that she is proposing legislation to allow local law enforcement to detain and arrest illegal immigrants. Sen. Hutchinson acknowledges that the legislation results from efforts by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to heighten awareness of the dire national security situation posed by our wide open borders.

In today''s report "Bill would let police detain, arrest illegal immigrants" from the Daily Texan Online, Senator Hutchinson says she admires the Minutemen''s dedication.

Thank you, Senator Hutchison!

Minutemen say corrupt, heartless government drives Mexican citizens from home

TOMBSTONE, AZ (October 3, 2005) – The government of Mexico yesterday issued a threat of legal action against the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp (“MCDC”) over the civilian group’s “Secure Our Borders” month-long operations on the northern and southern United States borders this October.

The Mexican consul for Brownsville, Texas, Victor Manuel Treviño Escudero, was reported by The Brownsville Herald as saying. “… the consulate will be alert for human rights violations or anything illegal, and would be disposed to sue the group for any trespasses.”

According to the U.S. State Department, the Mexican government has a long and sordid history of human rights violations and corruption that continues today. Millions of frustrated Mexican citizens have given up trying to change their corrupt, heartless government and are now voting with their feet by crossing into the United States, using legal and illegal means. They strive to live and raise their families in a country that is ruled by law and not by staggeringly corrupt government.

“The Minutemen do not blame Mexican nationals for wanting to live and work in the United States,” said Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. “Our grievance is with the corrupt Mexican government and the oligarchs in power there who are callously shifting the responsibility of their impoverished population to the United States taxpayer through ineffectual border control efforts.”

Simcox continued, “The border policies of the Mexican and United States governments have created a tragic and dangerous situation for citizens of both countries. Each year hundreds of Mexican and other nationals die a horrible death as they traverse desert wilderness attempting to illegally enter the United States. Among the sea of humanity that moves across the open borders every day, terrorists are free to walk across the border unchecked with chemical, biological and even nuclear materials. This is an unacceptable level of national security risk in a post-9/11 world.”

As recently reported in The Arizona Daily Star, the Mexican border town of Sasabe, Sonora, has been taken over de facto by drug smugglers and “coyotes” in a manner reminiscent of Al Qaeda’s taking over Iraqi towns on the Syrian border.

National security experts have said repeatedly it is not a matter of “if,” but of “when” terrorists will bring weapons of mass destruction across the open borders to murder thousands of American citizens in terror attacks that will dwarf 9/11.

“Rather than threatening law-abiding, concerned American citizens, the Mexican government should concentrate on making Mexico a country where its citizens want to live instead of a country their people risk death to flee by the millions each year,” Simcox said.

The MCDC will have over four thousand trained citizen volunteers posted at strategic points along the northern and southern United States border though the month of October to monitor conditions and report sightings to the U.S. Border Patrol of illegal border crossings by illegal aliens, drug smugglers and potential terrorists. The MCDC “Secure Our Borders” operation will provide much-needed resources to the grossly undermanned Border Patrol by supplying volunteers who report suspicious activity directly to authorities.