Minuteman National Blog

They are really stepping up to the plate for all American citizens:

U.S. BORDER PATROL
LOCAL 2544
TUCSON, ARIZONA

Welcome. Local 2544 officers are all Border Patrol agents. We represent other Border Patrol agents and non-supervisory employees in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, covering most of the State of Arizona. We are the largest Local in the Border Patrol.

May 1st - Local 2544 will be making purchases of computers and other expensive items we normally would purchase at some point anyway - on May 1st. We wish all the illegal aliens would take their May 1st "protest" a step further, and completely remove themselves from the country. This would really demonstrate how upset they are at being treated like common lawbreakers. It has to be terrible to be a lawbreaker, and then be called a "lawbreaker", or even worse, to actually be held accountable for breaking "laws". Ouch! Afterwards, we could put all the unemployed Americans back to work, force employers to pay a fair wage, and see if the country really falls apart as the radical illegal immigration activists would have everyone believe. We say CALL THEIR BLUFF.

ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: HIRE U.S. CITIZENS AND LEGAL IMMIGRANTS! SAY NO TO CHEAP ILLEGAL ALIEN LABOR. IT''S AGAINST THE LAW, IT''S UNETHICAL, AND IT''S BAD FOR THIS COUNTRY.

SAY NO TO AMNESTY. PRESIDENT BUSH AND MANY POLITICIANS ARE TRYING TO SELL LEGALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP TO 12 TO 15 MILLION LAWBREAKERS. DON''T BUY THEIR PROPAGANDA. IT''S NOT A "GUEST WORKER" PROGRAM, IT''S AN AMNESTY PROGRAM, IT''S COMPLETELY UNENFORCEABLE, AND IT''S DEAD WRONG. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEND THEM A MESSAGE.

THANK YOU FROM THE UNITED STATES BORDER PATROL AGENTS TRYING OUR BEST TO POLICE THE BORDER IN ARIZONA WHILE PRESIDENT BUSH, SENATOR McCAIN, "CONGRESSMAN" GRIJALVA AND OTHERS SELL US OUT EVERY DAY.

A big Minuteman THANK YOU to the U.S. Border Patrol agents and the Local 2544 in Tucson. God Bless America!

Fox News reports on the California Minuteman Civil Defense Corps efforts yesterday to repair a fence in the San Diego area that our government has left in disrepair for YEARS, as well as extend current fencing on government land. The CA MCDC had around 200 folks show up to help with fence repair and extension in areas where illegals and drug traffickers have torn down the American people''s fencing.

From the Fox News website:

BOULEVARD, Calif. — As immigrants and their supporters prepared for a massive boycott on Monday, opponents of illegal immigration went to work building a border fence meant to symbolize their support of a secure border.

About 200 volunteers organized by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California began building a 6-foot barbed wire fence Saturday along a quarter-mile stretch of rugged terrain in Boulevard, about 50 miles east of San Diego.

Tim Donnelly, the group''s leader, said volunteers ate apple pie and hot dogs as they worked on the fence, which was connected to an existing 12-foot-high fence previously built by the federal government.

The volunteers wanted to send a message to Congress that the government should block entry to the United States and not grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, Donnelly said.

Thousands of immigrants and their supporters are expected to boycott work and schools Monday to raise awareness of their contributions to society.

"This was largely sent as a message to Congress so they''ll see on May 1, there are jobs that even illegal immigrants don''t want to do, but Americans are more than willing to do them," Donnelly said, referring to the fence-building.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

Very interesting commentary written by Jim Kouri, Fifth Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, as Arizona Border Patrol Agents Local 2544 makes quite a statement regarding tomorrow''s anti-America boycott:

Border Agents to Americans: "You Have Been Invaded"
by Jim Kouri
Apr 30, 2006

On May 1, the U.S. Border Patrol Agents Local 2544 will be doing their part to offset any adverse impact on the American economy as a result of the upcoming illegal aliens'' boycott. Local 2544, which represents Border Patrol agents in Arizona, vows to make big-ticket item purchases of computers and other expensive items on May 1.

"We wish all the illegal aliens would take their May 1 ''protest'' a step further, and completely remove themselves from the country," say local officials.

"You have been invaded, America. There are reportedly 20 million illegal aliens in this country now, and the number could be much higher."

Border patrol agents state plainly that these people are not supposed to be here and nobody knows who they are.

"Our president, George W. Bush, is doing nothing more than winking at them and promising them a huge amnesty program," Local 2544 officials said.

Meanwhile, two border-state governors have recently declared their borders "disaster areas" because many of the people running the federal government sit on their hands, frozen in fear, and refuse to address this problem in any meaningful way. 40% of the people still in Mexico say they want to come here.

"We try every day to stem this massive wave of illegal immigration, but we are overwhelmed, ill-equipped, underfunded, and sold out by politicians. We lost this battle years ago," officials said in a press release.

Border patrol agents have attempted to get their message out to the American people, but the monolithic news media ignore what they have to say about the illegal immigration issue.

"Thousands more illegal aliens make it into [the United States] every day. We simply cannot stop them. We don''t even have a reliable two-way communications system in the border patrol. Many times, if an agent gets caught up in a bad situation in a remote area, he or she is on their own," claim members of Local 2544.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link.

Minuteman second in command, Al Garza, the National Executve Director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, gets a writeup in the Houston Chronicle:

La raza not united on border
One Hispanic Minuteman says it''s matter of law, not a race issue

By CYNTHIA LEONOR GARZA
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Al Garza says he''s proud of his Latino heritage, his race. La raza, he calls it, shifting easily from English to Spanish.

But he said he''s not about to join the protesters who have taken to the streets of Houston and other cities in recent weeks in demand of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"Personally, I''m very disappointed in our own raza at what they''re doing," said Garza, a Texas native who wants to end the flow of illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Just because I''m Hispanic doesn''t mean I''m going to allow complete strangers trampling over property, vandalizing people''s homes and ranches," he said.

Garza, former Texas president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and now the group''s second-in-command, is one of the nation''s most prominent Hispanic anti-immigration activists.

Ten percent of the Minutemen''s 8,000 members are Hispanic, he said.

"This has nothing to do with race," said Garza, who was born in Raymondville in South Texas. "Anyone that has any racial agenda is not wanted in our group."

What matters, Garza says, is enforcing the law and getting control of the border. His view of illegal immigrants, some experts say, underscores long-held differences between American-born Latinos and foreign-born newcomers.

"There is a major divide between the immigrant community and the native community," said Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., a history professor at the University of Houston. "From the very beginning you see these differences, but over the years our differences have been maintained."

Indeed, some polls show that American-born Hispanics are more critical of immigrants than newcomers.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

Here''s a pretty thorough article today on the release of the Spanish language "Our Anthem," with lyrics "closely based" on the American Star Spangled Banner.

From the Associated Press via today''s Detroit Free Press:

National anthem goes Hispanic

MIAMI -- British music producer Adam Kidron says that when he came up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the national anthem, he saw it as an ode to the millions of immigrants seeking a better life.

But in the week since Kidron announced the song -- which features artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Taqon -- it has been the target of a backlash.

Some Internet bloggers and others don''t like the thought of "The Star-Spangled Banner" sung in a language other than English. Others are outraged by an unreleased version with new, pro-immigrant lyrics.

"Would the French accept people singing the ''La Marseillaise'' in English as a sign of French patriotism? Of course not," said Mark Krikorian, head of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports tighter immigration controls.

The initial version of "Nuestro Himno," or "Our Anthem," comes out today and uses lyrics based closely on the original, said Kidron, who heads the record label Urban Box Office.

Pro-immigration protests are planned around the nation Monday, and the record label urges Hispanic radio stations nationwide to play the anthem at 7 p.m. today.

A remix to be released in June will contain lines in English that condemn U.S. immigration laws. Among them: "These kids have no parents, ''cause all of these mean laws. ... Let''s not start a war with all these hard workers, they can''t help where they were born."

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

The main Minuteman web page, MinutemanHQ.com now has some new materials to help you with donations and registration to volunteer to help build the fence.

There are now two .pdf files for download. You can print them out and mail them in with a check, or you can hand them out to friends and family or at local events (this one''s for you TED, as you asked!) or you can do as Ted suggests and run it as an ad in your local paper.

Fence donation forms/flyers/ads:

http://minutemanhq.com/pdf_files/fence.pdf

and

http://minutemanhq.com/pdf_files/alien_mob_033006.pdf

To sign up to volunteer to help build the fence, please go here and fill out the form so we will know if you have any special qualifications such as welding, heavy machinery operations, et cetera.

VOLUNTEER TO BUILD THE BORDER FENCE:

http://minutemanhq.com/bf/volunteer.php

Thank you!

Here''s one from the truth is stranger than fiction category:

Woman Uses Nail Clippers in Desert Birth

An 18-year-old woman who gave birth in the desert used nail clippers to cut her baby girl''s umbilical cord before being rescued by U.S. Border Patrol agents, authorities said Wednesday.

The woman was spotted Monday night by a Border Patrol helicopter pilot about 25 miles north of the border, said Ron Bellavia, commander of the agency''s search, trauma and rescue operations in the Tucson sector.

The woman, believed to be an illegal immigrant, was with two other people, and all appeared in distress, agents said. Her nationality was not immediately known.

She was taken by helicopter to University Medical Center in Tucson, Bellavia said. Her daughter was carried on a four-wheel-drive vehicle about five miles to a road, where an ambulance transported her the hospital.

A hospital spokeswoman said mother and daughter were in good condition Wednesday.

The United States Supreme Court has taken up the question of whether or not companies hiring illegal aliens can be sued under the federal Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) or if they should be sued under criminal conspiracy law.

If the court decides against using the RICO statute, the case will still proceed, being re-filed under other criminal conspiracy laws. Good news!

From today''s Washington Times:

Court to decide whether to let illegals suit proceed

Lawyers for employees of a Georgia-based manufacturer yesterday urged the Supreme Court to allow a lawsuit that accuses the flooring company of suppressing workers'' wages by recruiting illegal aliens.

Even though the case involves the politically explosive matter of illegal labor, it arrived before the justices because of a dispute over the lawsuit''s use of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) -- a law traditionally used to prosecute organized crime.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked the lawyer representing the employees, who are backed by the Bush administration, why their accusations against Mohawk Industries, which appear to fit under general criminal conspiracy law, had been brought under RICO.

"I''m trying to give you an opportunity to tell why this case constitutes RICO, and you''re telling me ''interstate commerce'' and that it happened with more than one person," the chief justice said. "Those are things that can be handled by criminal conspiracy law."

Justice Stephen G. Breyer said allowing the case to go forward could effectively "RICO-ize vast amounts of commercial activities" that have "nothing to do with organized crime."

Winning parties in RICO cases can be awarded triple damages -- notably higher awards than winners in non-racketeering criminal cases. Congress expanded RICO in 1996 to include violations of immigration law.

The group of current and former Mohawk employees say the company violated RICO by systematically contracting outside recruiting firms to hire illegals. The lawsuit says Mohawk provided identification cards to illegal aliens, which helped them avoid detection by immigration authorities.

The case stalled after Mohawk filed a preliminary motion to have it dismissed, arguing that it was improperly filed under RICO on grounds the company''s activities did not constitute a racketeering "enterprise" as described by the language of the law.

Carter G. Phillips, the lawyer who represented the company yesterday, told the justices that providing ID cards to workers was part of the company''s regular personnel practices, not a racketeering enterprise.

Mohawk denies knowing that it had illegal aliens on its payroll.

The high court agreed to weigh in after two lower federal courts denied Mohawk''s motion.

Court observers noted the greater immigration underpinnings of the case likely will not come to the forefront until the justices decide whether to allow the case to go forward under RICO or order it to be refiled under another criminal law.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

This Senate bill to fund the Iraq effort has been LOADED with pork projects and has swelled by billions of dollars.

The Senate passed an amendment today to divert a portion of these funds to the borders and the ports. But unless the pork is dropped from the bill, the President has threatened a veto (he hasn''t yet vetoed ONE BILL in his entire presidency).

From the Associated Press:

Senate Shifts Iraq Funds to Borders, Ports

WASHINGTON

The Senate voted Wednesday to divert some of the money President Bush requested for the war in Iraq to instead increase patrols against illegal immigrants on the nation''s borders and increase security at U.S. ports.

An amendment cutting Bush''s Iraq request by $1.3 billion to pay for new Border Patrol agents, aircraft some fencing at border crossings widely used by illegal immigrants was adopted on 59-39 vote.

While the border security funds had sweeping support, Democrats and Republicans argued over whether the cuts to Pentagon war funds would harm troops on the ground in Iraq. The cuts, offered by Judd Gregg, R- N.H., trim Bush''s request for the war by almost 3 percent but don''t specify how.

The vote came in the wake of a toughly worded promise by the White House to veto the $106.5 billion measure unless it is cut back to below $95 billion.

For those of you living north of me, heads up! The government has handed the wide open road to the illegals aliens so they can come pay you a visit...

BISBEE — Motorists along three of Cochise County’s major north-south throughways may have noticed the recent disappearance of some familiar landmarks — the Border Patrol checkpoints that had long been fixtures on highways 80, 90 and 191.

A Border Patrol spokesman at the agency’s Tucson Sector headquarters said Monday that because the management of checkpoints is an operational issue, he could not comment on why or precisely when the permanent revision points in Cochise County had been dismantled.

A spokeswoman at Congressman Jim Kolbe’s office in Washington, however, said that any removal would be appropriate given a law prohibiting long-term checkpoints in the area.

According to a provision inserted into Border Patrol appropriations bills by Kolbe, the Tucson Sector must relocate checkpoints every seven days and may not return to the previous location until at least another week.

The Tucson Sector — which includes all of Cochise County — is the only Border Patrol sector to have such a restriction.

~snip~

In the past, Border Patrol leaders have argued that constantly putting up and taking down checkpoints wastes time and resources, and have advocated an approach that combines the use of stationary and mobile revision points.

In order to circumvent the restriction on permanent checkpoints in southern Arizona, the agency had employed a strategy of shutting down stationary checkpoints briefly and then reopening in the same spot.

In 2005, Kolbe asked the federal Government Accountability Office to investigate the practice. But while the GAO report did find the Tucson Sector was sidestepping the law, it also said that the effectiveness of checkpoints in the area had fallen by 77 percent since the time-limit rule went into effect.

~snip~

I guess this means their effctivness has now fallen by 100 percent.

Looks like the Border Patrol has been partially blinded for a while, folks.

Border Patrol officials are investigating the Tuesday morning crash of a Predator-B spy drone, according to spokesman Jesus Rodriguez.

Rodriguez confirmed the crash of the agency’s $14-million Predator-B, but did not release any other details late Wednesday morning.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said his office received calls on the crash at about 6:30 a.m. this morning from residents at Morningstar Ranch near Josephine Canyon just east of Tubac.

Estrada said the witnesses heard a loud crash at about 3:30 a.m. and called it in after going out early this morning and finding the drone but no people.

The Predator-B spy drone is controlled through satellite communication and is able to see through clouds from 50,000 feet. The Border Patrol unveiled the unmanned aerial surveillance system on Sept. 29, 2005.

The Predator-B spy drone was being used by Border Patrol agents on the ground to counter drug- and people-smuggling in Southern Arizona, according to the agency.

Minuteman eyes are now even more important. It might be added that this was their only drone.

In Houston today, rival human smuggling criminal cartels fought over control of 15 illegal aliens authorities found locked in a closet. Lovely people, these human smugglers. Lovely.

From KDBT 4 TV in Houston:

Gunbattle Between Rival Immigrant Smugglers

A gunbattle at a drop house for undocumented immigrants probably involved rival smugglers fighting for control over a group of newly arrived immigrants, Houston authorities said.

Police found a group of 15 immigrants huddled in a locked closet when they responded to reports of gunshots at the house in northwest Houston. The immigrants included 10 Mexicans, three Hondurans and two Guatemalans.

Police said as many as 15 shots were fired Monday evening. They spotted guns inside one of two houses on the property before finding the immigrants in the closet. Police were searching for three vehicles that fled the house after the gunfire.

Two men who are believed to have operated the drop house face charges in connection with the incident, said Scott Hatfield, assistant special agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston. One of the men suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Houston police Sgt. C.E. Anderson said the Mexican immigrants in the closet included three women and a 7-year-old child. He described the scene as "a mass of humanity."

Hatfield said the immigrants were taken to a federal processing center for further questioning.

Arizona lawmakers are considering putting forth legislation to allow for private fencing on state-leased private land.

From the Associated Press via today''s Arizona Republic:

Minutemen, lawmaker working on border fence bill
By Paul Davenport
THE Associated Press

PHOENIX — Proposed new state legislation could authorize ranchers who lease state trust land along the U.S.-Mexico border to erect barriers to help deter illegal crossings, a Minuteman leader and a prominent legislator said.

Rep. Russell Pearce, a leading legislative critic of illegal immigration, said he''s engaged in talks about including a fence authorization provision in a sweeping anti-illegal immigration measure that''s still being drafted.

"I''m interested in helping to do that," Pearce said Monday. "We don''t have authority over federal land but we do over state land."

The legislative session is in what could be its final weeks if lawmakers enact a new state budget soon, but Pearce said a new omnibus immigration measure could be considered during a special committee hearing.

Pearce said other possible provisions of the legislation could include parts of a bill recently vetoed by Gov. Janet Napolitano to make illegal immigrants'' presence in Arizona a crime under the state''s trespassing law.

The legislation could either be a bill enacted by the Legislature or a referendum placed on the November ballot for voter approval, he said.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

This just in from Stacey O''Connell:

MINUTEMANS REVENGE!!!!

That''s what we call it; the virus that has been spreading to about 12 of the volunteers over the past week! There is a bug going around camp, putting some of our brave Minutemen down for a day or two at a time. It even got to a couple of the leadership. No, its not from the food; some have gotten the bug that have not been eating at the kitchen! So its been a week of encouraging good hygiene and washing our hands several times daily. We continue to persevere even when our leadership team goes down, the mission continues.

We are now into our last week of the April operations. To date, I note 1194 sightings and 589 apprehensions by US Border Patrol. 50% of our sightings are now being apprehended by USBP, a wonderful number we have not yet achieved in the past. Daily, the USBP agents continue to thank us for being there, noting how they appreciate our presence and that we are making a big effect on their own mission. USBP has been very active in the valley South of us with vehicle check-points, and we see the Black Hawk helicopters up daily.

Although the ACLU is still present, hanging out across the street from the base camp; they have not been back onto the main ranch. The kids continue to smile and wave at us, videotaping and lounging in chairs. The gal we photographed last April smoking marijuana is there as well. We set up a new line on the ranch, a very successful line that we have named the "Yberra Line". We started working it this past weekend, and each time its active. The namesake seems to be a bit of luck for us.

We were lucky enough to have a volunteer donate a ''cherry-picker'' this past weekend to do some work on our radio antenna. When the work was done, we realized we had this piece of equipment for the weekend! So we drove it across the street to the Brawley Wash and made it a post! Carmen and Anthony took to the skies, 60 feet in the air Saturday PM with the thermal scope and we had our first sighting! The small group was lit up from the sky and they sat right down and waited a few minutes for a USBP agent close by to come pick them up. Way to go guys!

The volunteers continue to pour in daily. Lots of new faces and plenty of local residents dropping by to give their thanks. Each volunteer is more eager than the last to take their post and stand guard. We are thankful for their vigilance.

Saturday nights meal included fresh turkey and a honey-baked ham, nothing left but bones and I think the cook even managed to make a meal out of them too! The hot chow is a welcome sight to those coming off the lines, and those headed out. Thank you to all the Minutemen that have supported the kitchen efforts throughout the month.

May is coming up fast and many events are being planned. May 3rd will be the Minuteman Caravan at the Phoenix Capital, 7PM. May 6th will be a nation-wide protest rally at ALL Mexican Consulates across the land, high-noon for that in Phoenix. May 20th is the "Lay-Up Clean-Up" in NW Phoenix near Lake Pleasant, and we will be back in operations on the border come Memorial Day Weekend. More details to follow within the week on these events.

Our closing ceremonies will be Sunday April 30th at the base camp at 8AM. Please come and thank our volunteers for their dedication. We are pleased to announce the attendance of over 600 Minutemen Volunteers come to stand guard for the month in Arizona alone!

Stay alert, stay active. Stay Vigilant.

Semper Vigilans.

Stacey O''Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC AZ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

U.S. SENATE INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING AMERICAN PEOPLE

Border Legislation Offers Smoke and Mirrors

(PHOENIX, AZ) April 24, 2006 – Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), today issued the following statement on the United States Senate’s return from Easter recess:

“The United States Senate has returned from its two-week Easter vacation to once again attempt to push guest worker amnesty legislation through without first securing this nation’s borders. If a ‘border security only’ bill was somehow magically signed into law today, it would still take several years to reach a realistic level of manpower, materiel and technology to adequately secure the border.

“Findings in an independent study commissioned by the House Immigration Reform Caucus done last year on the effect of the Minuteman efforts state that it requires two years to train officers for the Border Patrol. When you consider that currently a maximum of 2,000 Border Patrol agents can be trained per year, and the attrition rate of between 500-1,000 agents per year lost to retirement or career change, it is disingenuous at best for the Senate to represent to the American people that passing border security legislation will in any way stop the current continuing flood over the border by those seeking amnesty.

“It is outrageous that the Senate continues to ignore the logistical realities involved in securing the border, and to engage in irresponsible rhetoric and legislative maneuverings that only increase the staggering influx of people illegally crossing the border in hopes of amnesty. In some areas the Minutemen are presently patrolling, the level of sightings has increased up to five times over the numbers sighted last October—which is historically a high-traffic peak after the summer heat makes passage of the border much more difficult.

“The existing border crisis is a dereliction of duty by those entrusted with American security and sovereignty, leaving America vulnerable to terrorist infiltration and an unprecedented crime wave caused by drug smugglers, rapists, thieves, human traffickers and murderers who currently cross our border at will.

“The Minutemen urge the House and Senate to immediately pass resolutions for the President to declare a state of emergency and deploy National Guard and other reserve troops, and move to our own borders for training those military units currently training to guard the borders of other nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Unless and until the President and Congress act to immediately secure our borders with the required military elements, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps will continue to step into the breach—and we will break ground on Memorial Day weekend to begin building a security fence on private land along the border with Mexico.”

###

Report to House Immigration Reform Caucus:

http://www.minutemanhq.com/pdf_files/norwood_minuteman_report_61705.pdf

When the Senate returns Monday from its two-week Easter vacation, Majority Leader Bill Frist says they will once again take up border security. Frist will set a new deadline of Memorial Day weekend.

Keep up the pressure, everyone! They''re feeling it big-time! Now is no time to let up. Let''s take it over the finish line: BORDER SECURITY FIRST AND ONLY! Prove to the American people that you CAN AND WILL secure the border, and once the border is secure we''ll talk about what to do with those millions already illegally here.

From today''s Washington Times:

Senate to persist on border plan
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Senate again will take up immigration-reform legislation in the coming weeks with an eye toward at least beefing up border security before the fall elections.

Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, set a new deadline of Memorial Day to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, Senate Republican leadership aides said yesterday.

Before then, Mr. Frist and other Republicans want to approve immediate spending to improve border security. That money would pay for additional Border Patrol agents, unmanned surveillance vehicles and targeted fencing.

Mr. Frist previously set a deadline of two weeks ago for passing an immigration-reform bill, but it stalled under intense disagreement over several provisions in a Senate proposal that both sides initially hailed as a "breakthrough" compromise.

Conservatives said the bill granted amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens already in this country because it would provide most with a direct path to citizenship. Some said the federal government must rebuild its credibility by securing the border before addressing guest-worker provisions or any direct paths to citizenship for aliens who already have broken U.S. laws.

"The American people are very tolerant and forgiving. But I don''t think they will be forgiving if the Congress passes something to fool them again into thinking we''re actually serious about controlling our borders and illegal immigration," Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, said yesterday.

"There is a growing consensus that we must secure our borders, but the problem is that the ''compromise'' bill''s security provisions are only a promise at this point," he said. "No money has actually been committed to create the 10,000 or so new Border Patrol agents we need, to create the technology, the ground sensors, the unmanned aerial vehicles we need in order to create a virtual wall to protect our borders."

Union officials and other liberals opposed the legislation because they feared that the guest-worker program would flood the job market with cheap labor.

Senate Republicans accused Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other Democratic leaders of essentially killing the legislation by refusing to allow widely supported amendments. One of those would have barred from U.S. citizenship any illegal alien who has been convicted of a felony or three misdemeanors, or refused a court order to leave the country.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MINUTEMEN TO CHALLENGE PRESIDENT BUSH AT APPEARANCE IN IRVINE, CA MONDAY

Secure the Borders Now, or American People Will

When: 7:30 a.m. Monday, April 24, 2006
Where: Hyatt Regency, 17900 Jamboree Rd. Irvine, CA

(Twin Peaks, CA) April 21, 2006 – During a presidential event at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, California 7:30 a.m. Monday, April 24th, 2006 Tim Donnelly, state leader of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), CA Chapter, will publicly challenge President Bush to fulfill his oath of office and immediately act to secure our borders, or the Minutemen will lead the sovereign American people to act in their own defense.

The MCDC announced yesterday that should the federal government fail to deploy National Guard and reservists to our southern border by May 25th to stop the flood of illegal aliens, halt the rampant criminality there and curtail the potential for terrorists to infiltrate this country via our porous, unsecured borders—then the Minutemen will be obliged to expand their “Border Watch and Report” mission.

The Minutemen will commence building border fencing on private land in Arizona on Memorial Day weekend, in the likely event the president persists in his refusal to protect this country from foreign invasion. Arizona ranchers and property owners along the frontier have already committed more than 70 miles of privately held border line to the project. Land owners in border states other than Arizona have contacted MCDC seeking to join the border fence project to protect their lands. More information on this project is available at www.MinutemanHQ.com

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps currently has volunteer “watchers” deployed along America’s southern and northern borders for the entire month of April. The Minutemen have observed and reported record numbers of illegal border crossings, a surge fed by the irresponsible “open borders” rhetoric of President Bush and U.S. Senators, who are holding border security hostage to the passage of guest worker amnesty programs.

Donnelly and the CA Chapter of MCDC invite American citizens and legal immigrants to join them at the California border with Mexico, to help repair and extend the existing border fence that the federal government has failed to maintain. “Such neglect puts our nation at ever more severe risk of infiltration, invasion and terrorist attack” said Donnelly. “The American people will act if the U.S. government remains derelict in its duty.”

###

The Minuteman HQ has gotten some of the footage from our Minutemen at the border up on the web for viewing. Watch with caution, especially the video of the rape tree and layup areas and MOST especially if you have high blood pressure.

If you are signed up for our email newsletter, these video links just went out, so there may be a big drain on the system right now--so if you can not get these to download quickly enough right now, give it awhile and try again! The links are now also available on the front page of the www.MinutemanHQ.com website!

Cocaine - Huge Lay Up Area
http://www.minutemanhq.com/%7Evideo/Cocaine_Huge_Layup_Site.wmv

Crossing Day and Night
http://minutemanhq.com/~video/mcdc_crossing.mpg

Rape Tree Monster Lay Up Area Trash
http://minutemanhq.com/~video/mcdc_rapetree_monster_layup_1.wmv

Environmental Destruction Monster Lay Up Area Trash
http://minutemanhq.com/~video/mcdc_environmental_destruction_monster_layup_2.wmv

The Center for Immigration Studies has released a new report on attrition (self-deportation) and cost effective strategies for addressing the millions of illegal aliens already in this country.

Attrition Through Enforcement
A Cost-Effective Strategy to Shrink the Illegal Population
Center for Immigration Studies
April 2006

Proponents of mass legalization of the illegal alien population, whether through amnesty or expanded guestworker programs, often justify this radical step by suggesting that the only alternative – a broad campaign to remove illegal aliens by force – is unworkable. One study put the cost of such a deportation strategy at $206 billion over the next five years. But mass forced removal is not the only alternative to mass legalization. This analysis shows that a strategy of attrition through enforcement, in combination with a stronger border security effort such as the administration’s Secure Border Initiative (SBI), will significantly reduce the size of the illegal alien population at a reasonable cost. Reducing the size of the illegal population in turn will reduce the fiscal and social burdens that illegal immigration imposes on communities. In contrast, a policy of mass legalization is likely to increase these costs and prompt more illegal immigration.

Studies of the size and growth of the illegal population show that a borders-oriented strategy like SBI, which aims to improve border security and focuses mainly on removing criminal aliens, will achieve only limited results. If supplemented by attrition through enforcement, which encourages voluntary compliance with immigration laws rather than relying on forced removal, the illegal population could be nearly halved in five years. According to the government’s own cost estimates, such a strategy requires an additional investment of less than $2 billion, or $400 million per year – an increase of less than 1 percent of the President’s 2007 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security ($42.7 billion).

Elements of the attrition through enforcement strategy include: mandatory workplace verification of immigration status; measures to curb misuse of Social Security and IRS identification numbers; partnerships with state and local law enforcement officials; expanded entry-exit recording under US-VISIT; increased non-criminal removals; and state and local laws to discourage illegal settlement.

The purpose of this analysis is to identify both the likely cost to the federal government and the expected effect in terms reducing the size of the illegal alien population, of re-orienting the nation’s immigration law enforcement strategy from one that relies primarily on border control and removing criminal aliens to one that also aims to increase the probability that illegal aliens will return home of their own accord. Among the findings:

A strategy of attrition through enforcement could reduce the illegal population by as many as 1.5 million illegal aliens each year. Currently, only about 183,000 illegal aliens per year depart without the intervention of immigration officials, according to DHS statistics.

Voluntary compliance works faster and is cheaper than a borders-only approach to immigration law enforcement. For example, under the controversial NSEERS program launched after 9/11, DHS removed roughly 1,500 illegally-resident Pakistanis; over the same time period, in response to the registration requirements, about 15,000 illegal Pakistani immigrants left the country on their own.

Requiring employers to verify the status of workers could deny jobs to about three million illegal workers in three years, affecting at least one-third of the illegal population. This measure is a central feature of H.R. 4437, the enforcement measure passed by the House of Representatives in December, and is estimated to cost just over $400 million over five years.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) knows the name, address, and place of employment of millions of illegal aliens, and issues hundreds of millions of dollars in tax refunds and tax credits to illegal aliens. Changing the laws to provide for information-sharing would help boost immigration law enforcement at minimal cost.

US-VISIT is a critical tool in curbing illegal immigration. Screening must be expanded to include Mexicans and Canadians, and DHS must move forward to deploy an exit-recording system. These steps should be a pre-requisite to adding or expanding any visa program.

Less than 10 percent of ICE investigative resources are devoted to fraud, workplace violations, and overstayers. DHS could double non-criminal removals at a cost of roughly $120 million per year, balancing a "broken windows" approach with its current triage approach to interior enforcement.

Laws enacted by the state governments of Florida and New York to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses have induced more illegal aliens to leave than have federal enforcement efforts against certain illegal populations in those states, and have come at virtually no cost to the federal government.

~SNIP~

To read the entire Center for Immigration Studies report, click on the title link!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MINUTEMEN TO BUILD ARIZONA-MEXICO BORDER FENCE

(PHOENIX, AZ) April 20, 2006 – Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), today announced plans by the MCDC to work with local Arizona land owners to build border security fencing on private land along the border with Mexico.

At present, six private land owners have partnered with the Minutemen for the commencement of construction of border fencing on their land. Surveillance cameras on the fencing will be monitored via computer by registered Minutemen across the country. We have chosen a fence design that is based on the Israeli fences in Gaza and on the West Bank that have cut terrorist attacks there by 95% or more. In order to be effective, a fence should not be easy to compromise by climbing over it with a ladder, cutting through it with wire cutters, ramming it with a vehicle, or tunneling under it undetected. No fence can be a 100% impenetrable barrier—but a good design will be time-consuming enough to get through that Border Patrol agents can be alerted to get to a point of attempted intrusion before the intrusion can be completed. Our design does this. You can see it at www.WeNeedAFence.com

Two construction companies to date have offered to inaugurate groundbreaking, coordinate volunteer construction crews and donate the use of the necessary heavy construction equipment.

The groundbreaking will begin in Arizona on Memorial Day weekend, unless in the interim President Bush deploys National Guard and reserve troops to immediately secure the out-of-control southern border.

The fencing will be built with privately donated funds, engineering and labor and will be used as an example to educate the public about the feasibility and efficacy of fencing to secure America’s borders from illegal incursion by aliens and international criminal cartels. A non-profit organization dedicated specifically to this purpose will facilitate and administer donations for construction of the fence. Monetary and in-kind contributions for this effort will go directly into building materials for this private, volunteer fencing project.

Simcox issued the following statement on the MCDC border fence project:

“President Bush once said he would not wait on events to act to protect our country. He has been president for over five years, and still he has not acted to secure our territorial frontier, even as his administration admits the United States government does not have operational control of our borders.

“On Memorial Day weekend, the American people will exercise their God-given rights to protect their lives and property by initiating construction of fencing along the border on private land unless President Bush immediately deploys National Guard and/or reserve troops along the breadth of the Southwestern border line with Mexico, thereby retaking the region from the international criminal cartels who presently are in operational control of the border. Additional support is available from military units presently training to guard the borders in other countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and they should immediately relocate their training to the Southwestern border.

“The existing border crisis is a dereliction of duty by those entrusted with American security and sovereignty, leaving America vulnerable to terrorist infiltration and an unprecedented crime wave caused by drug smugglers, rapists, thieves, human traffickers and murderers who currently cross our border at will.

“President Bush and Congress have taxed the wages of the American people to pay for the protection of our country, and expended those dollars to subsidize millions of low-wage illegal workers with housing, education, medical care, and welfare benefits. Yet even the most basic level of national territorial integrity requires that our elected representatives secure the border. Should they continue to refuse to do their Constitutional duty, the Minutemen will again step into the breach and commence building the required border barriers on private land and with private donations.

“Should President Bush and Congress fail to fulfill their oaths of office, and meet their Constitutional obligation to protect these United States from invasion, we, the sovereign people of the United States, having suffered a long train of abuses at the hand of a willfully insolent government, do hereby declare that these States ought, should and will be protected by American Minutemen.”

###

We Need A Fence design:

Well, the story is out! The press release goes out tomorrow...

From tonight''s Associated Press:

Ultimatum to Bush: ''Build fence or Minutemen will''

Associated Press
Apr. 19, 2006 06:12 PM (pacific)

TUCSON- Minuteman border watch leader Chris Simcox has a message for President Bush: Build new security fencing along the border with Mexico or private citizens will.

Simcox said Wednesday that he''s sending an ultimatum to the president, through the media, of course - "You can''t get through to the president any other way" - to deploy military reserves and the National Guard to the Arizona border by May 25.

Or, Simcox said, by the Memorial Day weekend Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteers and supporters will break ground to start erecting fencing privately.

"We have had landowners approach," Simcox said in an interview. "We''ve been working on this idea for a while. We''re going to show the federal government how easy it is to build these security fences, how inexpensively they can be built when built by private people and free enterprise."

Simcox said a half-dozen landowners along the Arizona-Mexico border have said they will allow fencing to be placed on their borderlands, and others in California, Texas and New Mexico have agreed to do so as well.

"Certainly, as with everything else, we''re only able to cover a small portion of the border," Simcox said. "The state and federal government have bought up most of the land around the border. I suspect that''s why we''ll never get control of the border."

But he said the plan is to put up secure fencing that truly will be an effective deterrent, and to show how easily it can be accomplished.

Simcox gave this description of the envisioned barrier-and-fencing complex:

Start with a 6-foot deep trench so a vehicle can''t crash through; behind it, roll of concertina (coiled, razor-edged barbed wire), in front of a 15-foot high heavy-gauge steel mesh fence angled outward at the top.

Behind the fence will be a 60- to 70-foot wide unpaved but graded dirt road, along with inexpensive, mounted video cameras that can be monitored from home computers. On the other side of the road will be a second, 15-foot fence, with more concertina wire on its outside.

"It''s a very simple, effective design based on feedback we''ve had from Border Patrol and the military," Simcox said. "It''s a fence that can be built on the cheap, effective and secure."

Simcox said supporters will try to build the fencing with volunteer labor. Surveyors and contractors have offered to help with the design and survey work, he said, and some have said they will provide heavy equipment.

Simcox said those involved in the planning hope to keep costs to between $125 and $150 a foot.

Access to land literally on the border is an issue because so much is state-leased trust property or federally owned, he said.

"You may have to deal with a situation where private property owners erect their own fences and may be faced with the president sending the National Guard to prevent them from protecting their private property," Simcox said.

He said the Minuteman plan is "to keep turning up the heat" until President Bush has to respond somehow.

The ACLU last week attempted to have the Minutemen thrown off of a private ranch because the ranch owner leases land to the State of Arizona. The article incorrectly reports that the MCDC didn''t have permits, but we already HAD permits PRIOR to the commencement of operations April 1st. They do report that the land office decided we didn''t need them.

In addition, the Minutemen contracted with the ranch owners to do ranch work there, including some cleanup of land completely trashed by crossing illegal aliens.

From the Associated Press, via the KVOA News website:

ACLU fails to toss Minutemen from state lands

Members of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps can continue patrolling on state trust lands without permits because they''ve been invited by ranchers leasing the land and agreed to do ranch work, a state official said.

The decision ends an attempt by the American Civil Liberties Union to get Arizona to force the volunteer anti-illegal immigration activists off the land because they hadn''t gotten state permission.

"They are authorized to be there under the terms of the lease," deputy state Land Commissioner Richard Hubbard said Tuesday. He said a state employee who had told the Minutemen members on Monday they needed permits was incorrect.

The group is carrying out a monthlong patrol south of Three Points on the private King''s Anvil Ranch southwest of Tucson. Pat King, whose ranch includes some state trust land that she leases, said she has a contract with the Minutemen to monitor cattle, pick up trash and fix fences.

King is a supporter of the Minutemen and said the ACLU efforts were wrong.

"Those American Civil Liberties Union persons up there are not concerned about me at all," King said. "So they are not really the American Civil Liberties Union are they? Because they don''t give a darn about what has happened to my constitutional rights to property."

The ACLU''s Ray Ybarra said his group complained about the Minutemen to the state Land Department last week.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

William La Jeunesse is down at the border with the Minutemen. They''re doing LIVE reports every hour from Three Points, AZ.

You can watch one of the reports here: HERE (OR CLICK ON THE TITLE LINK!)

Thank you, Fox News, for reporting the flood over the border seeking to get in under the wire for amnesty.

If you''re looking for a list of Senators to call to demand NO AMNESTY, those listed below have not yet given a firm commitment FOR or AGAINST AMNESTY. The total is 29 Senators in the uncommitted column:

Sen. Lott R-MS (202) 224-6253
Sen. Allen R-VA (202) 224-4024
Sen. Allard R-CO (202) 224-5941
Sen. Bond R-MO (202) 224-5721
Sen. Burns R-MT (202) 224-2644

Sen. Chambliss R-GA (202) 224-3521
Sen. Cornyn R-TX (202) 224-2934
Sen. Hatch R-UT (202) 224-5251
Sen. Dorgan D-ND (202) 224-2551
Sen. Kyl R-AZ (202) 224-4521

Sen. Sununu R-NH (202) 224-2841
Sen. Ensign R-NV (202) 224-6244
Sen. Rockefeller D-WV (202) 224-6472
Sen. Stabenow D-MI (202) 224-4822
Sen. Feinstein D-CA (202) 224-3841

Sen. Frist R-TN (202) 224-3344
Sen. Talent R-MO (202) 224-6154
Sen. Thomas R-WY (202) 224-6441
Sen. DeMint R-SC (202) 224-6121
Sen. Burr R-NC (202) 224-3154

Sen. Bennett R-UT (202) 224-5444
Sen. Hutchison R-TX (202) 224-5922
Sen. Snowe R-ME (202) 224-5344
Sen. Enzi R-WY (202) 224-3424
Sen. McConnell R-KY (202) 224-2541

Sen. Murkowski R-AK (202) 224-6665
Sen. Santorum R-PA (202) 224-6324
Sen. Thune R-SD (202) 224-2321
Sen. Bunning R-KY (202) 224-4343

If you make some calls, be sure to post what the Senate offices tell you here on the blog!

UPDATE NOTE: Make sure when you call your Senator and they say they are AGAINST AMNESTY that you ask them if that means they are voting AGAINST the so-called "compromise" bill in the Senate with a "path to citizenship" -- which IS AMNESTY, no matter what they try to call it!

From the Foster''s Daily Democrat on Sunday:

Minutemen: We''re just doing a good deed

Immigrants'' group: Tactics are worrisome

By NATE PARDUE

EXETER — For the most part, they sit in lawn chairs on fields and rural terrain — and wait.

Sometimes the day''s highlight is lunch at a nearby restaurant.

"It can be pretty boring. We figure if we''re lucky, maybe we''ll see a moose go by," said Ron Oplinus, 64, an Exeter resident and director of the New Hampshire chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

The group, with more than 8,000 members nationwide, is made up of private citizens who serve as an unofficial border patrol. They are not affiliated with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the nation''s official border protection agency.

Their tools of the trade: cellphones, binoculars and something comfortable to sit on.

Members of the 16-person New Hampshire group will visit the town of Pittsburg, with a population of 863, to man the Canadian border for two days starting on Saturday. They will watch for illegal immigrants trying to enter the country in what is the state group''s first formal "operation."

Their efforts are necessary, Oplinus said, because the federal government doesn''t have enough manpower to do it themselves.

"Nobody really wants to do this, but as concerned citizens, it''s something we feel we have to do," said Oplinus, a retired engineer, divorcee and father of three. "We''re just another set of eyes and ears."

Minuteman operations begin with the selection of a location anywhere along the Canadian and Mexican borders. Members stake out their posts with other members of the group for safety reasons. Selecting a location is not a systematic process — anywhere there is a chance for illegal border-crossing has potential.

If they see anyone who appears to be crossing the border illegally, they call the nearest U.S. Customs and Border Protection office and provide any information they can — such as license plate numbers and physical descriptions.

The Minutemen are within their rights to patrol the border, as long as they are law-abiding and don''t interfere with Border Patrol officers. But federal officials aren''t going as far as to say the group''s efforts are constraining illegal immigration.

"The successes we are seeing are due to the men and women on the front line who work for the Border Patrol every day. We don''t fly in, work for a month, and leave. We are there every day, no matter the climate, patrolling and securing the border," said Todd Fraser, a Border Patrol spokesman.

Ross DeLacy, a Border Patrol spokesman for the Swanton, Vt., district, which includes New Hampshire, said there have been no instances where the Minutemen''s efforts have led to arrests of deportable aliens in the region.

But Oplinus said his group is making a difference, and hundreds of illegal immigrants have been identified and deported because of Minuteman operations in states like Arizona and Texas.

There essentially are two rules volunteers must follow before they can become part of the Minutemen: "obey all laws" and "avoid all contact with illegals."

"We don''t want to mix it up with these folks. We don''t want to take the law into our hands," Oplinus said.

But that''s exactly what some groups feel the Minutemen are doing.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click on the title link!

These just in from Tony Dolz:

Just in from Stacey O''Connell:

Monday, April 17, 2006

Three weeks into "Secure Our Borders" with 950 sightings and 399 Apprehensions. Over the Easter weekend, we saw the numbers diminish across our lines, but jumped right back up this AM on the Alpha Line.

Easter Sunday we were blessed with a sermon by Phyllis Gross, a Minuteman volunteer and minister. Our MM stood down that AM to hear her speak and to take a much needed break. The weather continues to be typical for the season, cool at night, warm/hot during the day with lots of bright sunshine. A Minuteman or two have had the pleasure of knowing what it feels like to be bitten by the sun in Arizona!

The ACLU continues to berate our Minutemen and are continuing to encroach on our area of operations. They are coming out of the Prescott College in Tucson, using the college van to bring them out to our lines. Saturday afternoon, they parked across from the ranch house as a few of them started blowing up 2 large red and green balloons. Interested, we watched as they continued to work. Then, we saw them let the balloons go into the sky, floating 100 feet over the ranch house. There was a large sign that flew behind it, unreadable as the wind was strong. Suddenly, the tether broke from the balloons and the sign became readable...."Pendajos". (Spanish for A_hole). We got a good laugh as the wind took their intelligent sign South, towards the Mexican Border!

As I write this tonight, the ACLU is out on our Bravo Line; an area of operation that was considered private property to the land owner we are working with. Apparently, Ray Yberra and Kristen Synema (AZ State Representative) called AZ Fish and Game to allow them onto the land. It seems that some of the land they have is leased by the State of Arizona. They showed a permit to access State Land, and the Fish/Game allowed them access. Luckily, some of our MM volunteers have permits, and we are allowed to stay giving them word that we will all get permits to be there, regardless if the land owners have already given permission to be on the land they lease. So, tonight they are snooping around our posts, video taping, and God knows what else. I ask that before you come down, please go to www.land.state.az.us/news.htm and get a State Land Use Permit which will costs you $15. [NOTE: THE STATE OF ARIZONA HAS NOW RULED THE MINUTEMEN DO NOT NEED THESE PERMITS SO YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET THEM] You can do this online, or if you are in Phoenix or Tucson; visit the local State Game office for it.

The ACLU will not hinder our operations, they are a mere fly buzzing around and we will deal with them as weve done in the past. We ignore them, we video tape them when they get close. We will make their activities public at a time MCDC decides.

Our numbers of volunteers continue to be strong. We continue to draw 65-75 Minutemen per day during the week, and 125+ on the weekends. There is plenty of time to make your arrangements and join with us for the last two weeks of operations.

May 20th MCDC AZ will be hosting a Clean-Up Event near Lake Pleasant outside of Phoenix. A large Lay-Up area was spotted there by one of our new volunteers, and the BLM will be supporting the effort with trash bags, porta potties and maybe even lunch. More info to follow in the coming week. We hope you will join with us that day and help clean up a Lay Up area that is very much in need.

Semper Vigilans.

Stacey O''Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC

Photos of the ACLU using the Prescott College van to transport their "legal observers" to harrass Minutemen:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

A MINUTEMAN GOES TO WASHINGTON

“SECURE AMERICA’S BORDERS NOW!” PETITION NATIONWIDE DRIVE, FIVE MORE STATES ADDED

(PHOENIX, AZ) April 17, 2006 – The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps today announced additional tour cities in five states for the cross country “Secure America’s Borders Now!” petition drive led by Minuteman volunteer Tony Dolz, a naturalized American citizen from Cuba. The tour will feature stops at state offices of United States Senators to deliver the petition copy now in circulation which communicates the Minuteman message for a secure America on behalf of her concerned citizens. A copy of the petition is available online at http://www.MinutemanHQ.com

Dolz, himself a legal immigrant to this country, is making his journey from California to Washington, D.C., meeting fellow Minutemen and supporters, and gathering additional petition signatures to deliver to the White House and Congress.

Cities added today are the Paducah office of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, April 18th, the Nashville, Tennessee office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Wednesday, April 19th, the Greenville office of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Thursday, April 20th, the Raleigh office of North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole on Friday, April 21st and the Roanoke office of Virginia Senator John Warner on Saturday, April 22nd.

The Minutemen are reporting an alarming increase in numbers of people illegally crossing along the entire southern border—in some areas the Minuteman sightings are over four times the numbers sighted last October. Dolz invites all those who would like to make their voices heard in Washington on this URGENT and immediate border security catastrophe to meet him at his stops at Senate offices throughout the country, sign the petition, take copies to gather signatures of friends and family, and to write letters to the editor and call into talk radio shows all over America.

Dolz has previously held petition drive stops in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas and Missouri. The petition drive is expected to arrive at our nation’s capitol as the U.S. Senate reconvenes April 24th.

The petition is available online so that those unable to join the Minuteman tour in person because of responsibilities to work and family can add their names. To view the petition online, go to: http://www.MinutemanHQ.com

Secure America’s Borders Now! Petition Drive

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 – 3:00 PM
Office of Senator Mitch McConnell
Professional Arts Building
2320 Broadway St., Suite 100
Paducah, KY 42001

Wednesday, April 19, 2006 – 6:00 PM
Office of Senator Bill Frist
28 White Bridge Road
Suite 211
Nashville, TN 37205

Thursday, April 20, 2006 – 6:00 PM
Office of Senator Lindsey Graham
Upstate Regional Office
101 East Washington Street, Suite 220
Greenville, South Carolina 29601

Friday, April 21, 2006 – 6:00 PM
Office of Senator Elizabeth Dole
Raleigh Office:
310 New Bern Avenue
Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601

Saturday, April 22, 2006 1:00 PM
Office of Senator John Warner
1003 First Union Bank Building
213 South Jefferson Street
Roanoke, Virginia 24011

###

These photos just in from the Minuteman Goes to Washington petition drive at Sen. John McCain''s office in Phoenix on Friday. Chris Simcox was able to attend and sent these in! Over 300 people met with Tony Dolz to pick up petitions for the signature drive in Phoenix, and brought lettuce and a resume!

Tony Dolz gets signatures on the petition:

Chris Simcox gives Tony Dolz a hand getting signatures and handing out petitions:

The rest of these are self=-explanatory!