Minuteman Blog Central

Congress has passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, but AGAIN they''re playing politics. The President has not yet signed the bill into law, and they''ve AGAIN used smoke and mirrors to divert the funding away from this 700 miles of fencing. Congress, at the final hour, gave the President and the Department of Homeland Security the power to decide where this $1.2 billion dollars allocated to the fence will be spent.

DHS Secretary Chertoff has already said that they prefer something they''re calling a "virtual fence" as opposed to an actual fence.

As politicians continue to play games with our national security, the Minuteman Corps is actually building a REAL fence along the southern border.

The fence posts are being dropped into the holes and cemeted into place on the Minuteman Border Fence on the Hodges ranch near Bisbee, AZ.

If all goes according to schedule, the panels to attach to this new security fencing will begin to arrive around October 20th.

Thanks to all of those who have supported the Minuteman Border Fence, we will get this one done and continue on to do the job the government refuses to do: secure the borders.

These are the very first images of the posts being dropped into the ground. They began cementing them into place yesterday.

To discuss this topic on our Minuteman Forum, click on the title link!

The post hole drill has arrived and the drilling has begun for the fence posts! This is the new site at the border on the Hodges ranch, east of Bisbee, Arizona.

To discuss this topic on our Minuteman Forum, click on the title link!

This in from Arizona (more reports at the title link):

Fellow Patriots,

This will be the first installment of several updating all of you on the October Muster in the Altar Valley, AZ.

I arrived in Tucson on the afternoon of the 29th (after two days of driving) to get organized and be rested for the opening ceremonies on the morning of the 30th.

We are operating on the King Ranch, which is private property,approx. 38-40 miles southwest of Tucson, watching the Altar Valley, which is several miles wide and basically running north/south, and serves as a popular route for illegal aliens making their way north toward Tucson.

The opening ceremonies were excellent, and opened with the raising of the american flag, and the Pledge Of Allegiance. In addition, there were several comments from Stacey O''Connell, the MAIA leadership, Don Goldwater, and Chris Simcox to name a few. The temperature rose to about 97 degrees by about 12:00 PM, so it was already pretty warm.

After the ceremonies broke, we stopped for a little lunch break in the shade, and I was treated to a quick tour of the operations Headquarters, the communications section, and introduced to the Line Supervisors and staff. I was struck by how professional and dedicated the staff is, and how well everyone worked together.

There are Minutemen from all over the country here, California, New York, Virginia, and of course South Dakota to name a few.

I signed up for the 1st shift held, which was a 4P-12A shift (there are three shifts scheduled for every day; 8A-4P, 4P-12A, and 12A-8A).

While our post (several posts on a road basically east-west) did not see any illegals that first shift, a few did, but resulted in no apprehensions. The usual seems to be about 4-6 individuals sighted per shift, with about the same aprehended by the Border Patrol. The traffic of illegals seems to have dropped off in this area in the past several months largely due to our presence, and that of the National Guard to the south of us.

I started working the 12A-8A shift, as that appears to be the busiest in terms of sightings and aprehensions. My first 12A shift our team sighted 15 illegals walking in a line headed toward the north, and Border Patrol was immediately called. The BP arrested 12 of the 15 (the other three slipped away in the dark), thanked us a couple of times, and left. It was a good feeling to actually see illegals aprehended; it gives you a sense of accomplishment. During each of our interactions with the officers of the Border Patrol (and we interact with them a lot!), the BP were always courteous, and thanked us several times for our efforts, contributions, and the assistance we offered them. One BP agent even mentioned that if he had the time, he would stand a post out here with us. It was great to hear that.

All of the Minutemen are very professional, and tireless in their work down here. Several are pulling double shifts (16 hours per day on post) which amazes me.

In the first 5 days I worked about 8 shifts, so I took a day off. It''s funny though, I want to get right back at it now.

The desert is just as I remembered it - in a word - brutal! Temps (which are mild due to this time of year) range from 95-97 degrees during the day, to about 45-50 degrees at night. This doesn''t sound cold, but my first few shifts I wore thermal underwear, two layers of clothing on the bottom, and three layers of clothing on the top, plus a Gore-Tex coat, gloves, stocking cap, and Gator, and I was C-O-L-D!!! 30 minuted after the sun comes up I had to start tearing layers off because the temp was comming up that fast. Being from a northern state I thought, Aww, this isn''t that cold. It was.

During a couple of our shifts we hosted two media representatives from Sweden that shared our posts with us. They were very friendly, and maintained good noise and light discipline with us out on posts. We granted several one-on-one interviews, and they took some video. They truly wanted to get an accurate representation of our activities down here, without any apparent alternate agenda. It was refreshing.

Enough for now, I will post updates each few days or so, and pics will follow.

Stay Safe,

Heartland Hawk

To read more updates and to discuss this topic on our Minuteman Forum, click on the title link!

Now that the smoke and mirrors has been exposed, that the Department of Homeland Security has control over how the funding allocated for the fence is to be spent (and we all know how the President feels about a border fence--they want something they''re calling a "virtual" fence instead of an actual fence), going to the UN to try to stop the fence is redundant. Fox should know by now that our politicians will sell us out every single time.

Support the Minuteman Border Fence Project as it is now more important than ever!

From today''s Tucson Citizen:

Mexico threatening to take U.S. to the U.N. over border fence

Mexico''s foreign secretary said the country may take to the United Nations a dispute over the United States'' plans to build a fence on the Mexican border.

Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters in Paris, his first stop on a European tour, that a legal investigation was under way to determine whether Mexico has a case.

The Mexican government last week sent a diplomatic note to Washington, criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border. President-elect Felipe Calderon also denounced the plan, but said it was a bilateral issue that should not be put before the international community.

Derbez said Monday after meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy that it was a "shame" U.S. immigration policy had been used for what he claimed was a short-term political gain in the lead-up to midterm elections in the United States in November.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/28853.php

To discuss this topic on our Minuteman Forum, click on the title link!