Minuteman National Blog

Minuteman Civil Defense Corps

AZ Memorial Day Muster 2006

There is a post out along the Arizona/Mexico border that has been longing for the presence of a Minuteman. Daily, this vacant post sees thousands of illegal aliens come across our nations borders, unguarded, unchallenged. Our Arizona border is calling you, the volunteer Minuteman, to come stand and keep watch over her. Will you come for a weekend? Come inspect your nations open border policy in action.

DATE: May 26, 27 & 28th

LOCATION: Palominas Arizona, Trading Post Café

TIME: First Shift Friday at 6PM

SECTOR CHIEF: Stacey O’Connell, AZ State Director

This is a three day weekend operation. Come for a day, come for three, but come.

LOCATION FOR MEET-UP POINT: You will arrive at the Trading Post Café in Palominas, Arizona (Cochise Co) where tent and RV camping is available. No hook ups. Hotels are available nearby in Sierra Vista and Bisbee. Upon your arrival, please check in at the admin desk.

All Minutemen needing training, classes will be given. First class will run at 3PM on Friday. We will also have one at 9AM and 4PM Saturday. You will be required to attend the class prior to taking a post if you are a new Minuteman. We welcome new volunteers as well, they can register and take a class on site. Background checks will be done. No violent felons or racists need apply. If training is needed, please go to:

http://www.minutemanhq.com/pdf_files/training_manual2.pdf (Training Manual)

and

http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/sop.php (Standard Operating Procedures "SOP")

There you can print your own copy of the Training Manual and the SOP. You need to bring these with you for your training class.

Groundbreaking on the building of the fence: location and time will be announced at the start of our operations.

Fridays shift will run 6PM-Midnight.

Saturday & Sunday shifts will run 8AM-5PM. Night Shift will run 5PM-Midnight.

Please come well prepared for these shifts. You are welcome to stand as many shifts as you like, day and night. Please dress for the climate, hot in the day, and cold at night! Cell phone, two way radios, lawn chair, video/camera equipment, binos, spotters, night vision would all be appreciated. Sidearms are allowed, no long arms please. Please prepare a cooler of drinks and food/snacks for your post. You may also want a thermos of coffee as well, bring what you can to be comfortable on post.

We ask that all MM RSVP if you are coming. Please RSVP via email to AZCactus@aol.com

Directions for meetup location:

Off I-10 East, take Sierra Vista Exit, go South. Stay on Hwy until you get to 92 bypass. Follow it until you get to Palominas. Trading Post is on your right hand side.

Semper Vigilans.

Stacey O’Connell
AZ State Director
MCDC-AZ

President Bush has announced a primetime speech Monday night on immigration. Word to the media from "senior White House officials" is that he is considering putting anywhere from 3,500 to 10,000 troops on the border in the form of National Guard, with the federal government picking up the tab from the states. The 10,000 number is still too low until the proper barriers and technology are in place to assist troops and the Border Patrol in securing the border. An assessment by Congressman Charlie Norwood''s office places the number of troops needed to properly secure the border at 38,000. After all, the Southern border is nearly 2,000 miles long and you are dealing with three 8-hour shifts per day for Border Patrol agents, and there are only 10,500 BP agents for both the northern and southern borders. These agents spend only 2 hours each shift actually at the borders, the remaining six hours of the shift are spent on paperwork and processing those apprehended for deportation.

Chris Simcox has been calling for troops at the border and now it appears the President is listening. This is a positive step forward, but it could be a move to try to appease those in the Senate who may oppose guest worker amnesty, requiring that the borders be secured. The point we hope the President and the Senate can comprehend is that the American people want the government to PROVE that they HAVE SECURED the border and are aggressively enforcing our laws against illegal hiring and to cut off the social services that the American people have to foot the bill for--which negates the incentive for those to pour over our borders. No smoke and mirrors. As Ronald Reagan always said, "Trust but verify."

The Minutemen will remain at their posts until properly relieved by an adequate number of troops to secure the border. We will also monitor the borders to make sure that this is an ongoing and legitimate effort to secure and MAINTAIN that security at our borders. And we will break ground May 27th in southern Arizona on our first in a series of barriers and fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border on private land using private funding.

The House of Representatives seems to be moving strongly away from any sort of "comprehensive" immigration reform package. It is unlikely, at this time, that any form of guest worker amnesty will pass the House. Chris Simcox has spent the last two days in Washington, D.C. meeting and talking to Members of Congress (House) and their staffs. These Members are telling us that they want the border SECURED first and that security maintained before any further discussion of legislation for "comprehensive" immigration reform.

Simcox has been working with Members for an investigation into the Mexican government espionage and systematic spying on the Minutemen and any collusion by the Department of Homeland Security and the upper level management of the Border Patrol.

There have been several letters from Members demanding an explanation and full details of any exchange of information between the Border Patrol and the Mexican Consulates on the Minutemen from Members such as Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Darryl Issa (R-CA), a separate letter from Gresham Barrett (R-SC) and an additional letter from Jack Kingston (R-GA), John Doolittle (R-CA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)and Ric Keller (R-FL). As Congressman Issa of California said, all they got in response from the Border Patrol/DHS was a "non-denial denial." Things are moving forward for an investigation and hearings before the House Judiciary Committee.

Simcox also announced yesterday that the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is aggressively exploring options for legal action against the DHS/Border Patrol upper management in a class action lawsuit on behalf of the Minutemen for violations of our Constitutional rights, our civil rights and endangering our lives. Legal actions for injunctive relief are also being considered.

Back to the troops on the border, from the Associated Press via the Fox News website:

Bush Considering Deployment of National Guard Troops to Mexican Border

WASHINGTON — President Bush, trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the nation''s immigration laws, is considering plans to shore up the Mexican border with National Guard troops paid for by the federal government, according to senior administration officials.

One defense official said military leaders believe the number of troops required could range from 3,500 to 10,000, depending on the final plan. Another administration official cautioned that the 10,000 figure was too high.

The officials insisted on anonymity since no decision has been announced.

The president was expected to reveal his plans in an address Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. It will be the first time he has used the Oval Office for a domestic policy speech — a gesture intended to underscore the importance he places on the divisive immigration issue.

~SNIP~

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

You Hold The Nail And I’ll Hit It With A Hammer

I don’t care where you go the talk is solid illegal immigration this week. We are all waiting to see what kind of dog and pony show President Bush comes up with Monday. In the mean time we have a problem folks. It looks like this guest worker program might be going through.

Tom Adams of the Baxter Bulletin put it all pretty well this week”

“With the hope of amnesty just around the corner, our borders are being flooded with illegal aliens. Who can blame them? Unless we take immediate steps in closing the border and punishing those involved, including corporations that accommodate and perpetuate these illegals (like our poultry industry), we may as well fold up Old Glory and tell all of living vets and the families of those who died fighting for our freedom that it has all been for nothing.”

There is one thing we all know, if this thing goes through, life as we know it will end….fast. I have my robe and The End is Neigh sign handy.

Guest Worker Tango

The proposed legislation working it’s way through the House and Senate contains a key Guest Worker provision. It goes by many names. Some call this amnesty, others earned citizenship, but for the approximate 12 million illegal aliens currently estimated to be living in this country, if it resembles a duck and talks like one too, time to break out the piñata.

Winding it’s way through the system currently is H.R. 4337, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act. This bill passed the House in December 2005. The Senate recently began work on this very important issue and is scheduled to pass their own version possibly next week.

Indications are that the bill will be watered down considerably in the Senate, and even more so in conference between the Senate and the House. President Bush is on record favoring the Guest Worker provisions.

What is often lost in the discussion of the 12 million illegal aliens, is the provision being contemplated for bringing in up to 4 relatives each to live with the newly green carded. (if any of you think they are going to stop with just 4, I have some nice land down here in Tucson I would love to talk with you about)

For a total of approximately 60 million people. ……. With the sweep of a pen.

This is a large number and we have taken the opportunity to present the impact such a sweeping piece of legislation would have instantly on the demographics of the United States of America.

Still think this isn’t a big deal? According to the 2000 census, the figure of 60 million brand new residents is equilivant to the entire current state populations of the following states:

Alabama - 4,351,999 …..Alaska - 614,010 ……Arizona - 4,668,631 …..Arkansas - 2,538,303 …….Colorado - 3,970,971.…… Connecticut - 3,274,069 ……..Delaware - 743,603 ……..Hawaii - 1,193,001 …….Idaho - 1,228,684 ……..Iowa - 2,862,447 ………Kansas - 2,629,067 …….Kentucky - 3,936,499 ……..Maine - 1,244,250 ……..Maryland - 5,134,808 …….
Mississippi - 2,752,092 ……Missouri - 5,438,559 ………Montana - 880,453
Nebraska - 1,662,719 ………Nevada - 1,746,898 ………New Hampshire
1,185,048 ……..New Mexico……..1,736,931 …….North Dakota
638,244 …….South Dakota…..738,171 …..Vermont
590,883 …..and the District of Columbia….523,124

TOTAL

56.3 Million

Wait, that is only 56 million, I guess we can throw in the state of Wisconsin too. These figures do not take into account the millions of new Illegal aliens who will pour into the United States to fill the jobs vacated by the newly green carded who will most surely leave the fields and restaurants in droves for better paying jobs.

Absorbing approximately 60 million people in what could be as short a period as weeks and months will require expenditures on a level that can not be estimated. The immediate impact will be on public school systems, health care facilities, and local community housing authorities

POLITICIAN OF THE WEEK:

It was a tough decision by the blog staff here this week, but after an all night session that descended into name calling , a consensus was achieved.

Sheriff John Trumbo, of Umatilla Ca. who is billing Mexico for the cost of keeping their citizens in his small jail.

Umatilla Sheriff John Trumbo, who has yet to hear back from Mexico, said in his letter that illegal Mexican immigrants spent time in jail ''at a cost of $63 a day which equates to a request for payment of $318,843,'' The Los Angeles Times reported. Trumbo said ''at this time'' he would not bill for medical, dental and transportation costs.

Keep it up John.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

The White House Ceremonial Band took to the East lawn this week in an impromptu set and rehearsal for the expected signing ceremony of the new Guest Worker legislation....drawing thousands to the sound of the patriotic music . Popular requests were shouted through the Pennsylvania Avenue side fence for crowd favorites " La Pura Pelada" and of course the always emotional, "La Toma de Zacatecas".

Thanks to Arizona MCDC Chapter Leader Stacey O''Connell for sending out this story -- if I can get a link, I''ll put it up shortly.

May 11, 2006, 6:10 a.m.
In Our Backyard
If only McCain and Kennedy lived on ranches in southern Arizona.

By Leo W. Banks

I know how to kill the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill and the illusions that inspire it. We need every citizen to spend a day at John and Pat King''s Anvil Ranch in southern Arizona. The experience would create an overnight revolution in America''s view of this domestic crisis.

The Kings live every day with barking dogs, vandalism, guns at their bedside, trash on their land, and most tragically, human remains. The bodies of seven illegals were found on the 50,000-acre Anvil last year.

“Can you imagine dying of heat prostration out there?” says Pat King, a 62-year-old former nurse. “It has got to be the most awful thing. I wish the two countries would get together and stop this. In this whole 50-mile area, there is no law. It''s a frontier.”

I visited the Anvil a week ago Sunday. The night before, the Minutemen had wrapped up a month-long watch at the ranch, and the nationwide demonstrations to demand rights for illegal immigrants would begin the next morning.

I''ve visited many Arizona ranches, and it always surprises me how quickly I can travel from Tucson to a combat zone. It takes 50 minutes to reach Anvil''s headquarters in heavily-crossed Altar Valley, located to the southwest of the city. Even with that proximity, most people in Tucson—to say nothing of Maine or Washington, D.C.—live in blissful ignorance of the worsening situation here.

When Pat discusses the problem with friends, they say, “Don''t you think you''re exaggerating?” No one would ask that if they saw the 40 bicycles stacked against one of the Anvil''s out-buildings. They''re the favored means of transportation for drug smugglers, who pack their cargo onto saddlebags and pedal across our border, then abandon the bikes.

As for vandalism, Pat describes what they experience today as “wanton,”—water troughs filled with garbage, pipes cut, valves hammered to pieces. She jokes that they''re thinking of putting a tetherball by the troughs to occupy the illegals so they aren''t so destructive.

“You have to understand, we''re under siege here,” she says. “Every day my son and husband check water and fences and redo the damage they''ve done. Not to get on with our work, but to undo the damage. Every. Day.”

Micaela McGibbon, Pat''s daughter, took me on a ranch tour, and in one mile we crossed 30 smuggling trails. In a wash, we inspected sophisticated brush huts in which illegals rest during trips north.

But this nightmare comes right to the Kings'' doorstep. Imagine living under permanent stakeout. The Kings do. They removed mesquite trees from around their house because illegals would hide underneath them and wait for the house to empty.

For nine years, the family has been unable to leave home unless someone stays to guard against burglars. They celebrate Christmas in shifts. On Christmas Eve, Pat''s son and daughter-in-law go to Tucson to visit family, and when they return John and Pat go on Christmas morning.

Micaela can no longer do chores unless accompanied by her father or a brother, and taking her 4-year-old daughter out on horseback is forbidden. “We can''t go anywhere without an escort,” Micaela says.

The Kings have complained to politicians and law enforcement for years. “They talk this rule of law stuff, but it doesn''t mean a thing,” Pat says. “When you realize nothing''s going to happen, you have to do self-protection.”

During their April watch, Minutemen spotted 1,501 illegals on the Anvil, and of these the Border Patrol arrested 500. But it turned into a circus. ACLU volunteers showed up every day to monitor and harass the Minutemen, at times sounding car horns and flashing lights to alert the illegals that the Border Patrol was coming.

This is the border crisis in microcosm—confused Americans rush to defend lawbreakers while ignoring, even demonizing, law-abiding citizens who suffer daily affronts to basic liberties on land their family has tended for 115 years.

The Anvil''s location, 38 miles north of the border, means that by the time illegals arrive there, they''ve been walking for days and are sometimes in desperate shape.

Between May and August last year, cowboy Jason Cathcart found four sets of human remains. He came to dread spotting what looked like little white balls in the distance. Those “balls” turned out to be human skulls.

In March, a man arrived at the Anvil''s front gate so distraught that he ran into the yard and tried to impale himself on a pitchfork. Later he took up a bale hook and used the pointed end to slash his throat.

“This is what life is like in the Altar Valley,” says Pat.

Certainly the McCain-Kennedy bill will do nothing to change life here. Pat likens the bill, with its plan for amnesty, a guest-worker program, and negligible enforcement, to swatting flies in your house with the doors and windows wide open.

Ask yourself: Would the Altar Valley be a war zone if McCain lived here? If Kennedy''s Hyannis Port compound were magically transplanted to southern Arizona, how long do you think it''d be before he rewrote his bill? The first time Kennedy saw 30 illegals dashing across his property, he''d trip over his Guatemalan lawn guy rushing to the Senate floor to demand enforcement.

That''s one of the American tragedies at play here, the abandonment of ordinary citizens by our country''s elites, and most strikingly, the abandonment of the very laws they themselves have written.

The resulting invasion has driven legal Arizona residents from their land, including John King''s aunt. She lived south of the Anvil for more than 40 years, but sold out rather than keep fighting a battle the federal government has no intention of winning.

Pat thinks the street demonstrators—she calls them cowards—need to show their bravery by returning to Mexico and changing that country, not ours.

“We did that with the Boston Tea Party,” she says. “We were taxed without representation and we rose up and changed it. I think the students in the streets and these young ACLU individuals here are being used. When you talk to them you realize it''s all emotion. There''s no logic. They don''t have a clue.”

When it comes to what''s really happening on our southern border, neither does the rest of the country. But that would change if every American spent a day at the Anvil.

—Leo W. Banks is a writer in Tucson.

Ah, illegal aliens and their cohorts -- the gift that keeps on giving:

BENTONVILLE — Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Robin Green detailed a possible aggravating factor that could lead prosecutors to seek the death penalty against the suspect who fired the shot Saturday that killed Daniel Ray Francis.

Serafin Sandoval Vega, 19, is being held without bond on a charge of capital murder. Vega and two people — Manuel Enrique Camacho-Ambriz, 25, and Roxana Hernandez, 21, who were arrested as accomplices — appeared in court Wednesday.

Francis, 32, was shot in the back of the head just before 4 p.m. Saturday near U.S. Highway 71 Business and Pleasant Grove Road in Lowell. Francis was a passenger in an Acura driven by co-worker Tracy R. Stith.

Circuit Judge David Clinger described the prosecutors’ case as a strong one when deciding whether they have enough probable cause to hold Vega without bond on the capital charge.

Green said the death penalty remains on the table as a possible punishment to be sought in Vega’s case.

The aggravating factor cited in Wednesday’s hearing is that a person in commission of the capital murder knowingly created a great risk of death to a person other than the victim or caused the death of more than one person in the same criminal episode.

Green urged the judge not to set bond for Vega, who she said confessed to "pulling the trigger" and has no ties to the community. Vega also has an arrest warrant in connection with 13 misdemeanor charges from Rogers District Court, according to Green.

Public Defender Jay Saxton, who was appointed to represent Vega, asked the judge to set a reasonable bond for Vega, who his attorney said is a resident alien and has lived in the area for four to 4 1/2 years. Saxton also said some of Vega’s family members live in the area, and if released on bond, Vega would reside with his mother. Saxton pointed out that several members of Vega’s family were in attendance for the hearing. "The state has a strong case," Clinger said. "There’s no doubt about it."

Clinger ordered that Vega be held without bond.

Ambriz — the driver of the car — is also being held without bond, even though the judge described the case against Ambriz as a weaker one than Vega’s.

Fayetteville attorney Tim Buckley was appointed to represent Ambriz. Buckley contested whether there was probable cause to hold his client as an accomplice to capital murder. Buckley claimed the only factor against his client is the statement from the confessed shooter, who claims that Ambriz and Hernandez encouraged him to shoot at Francis and Stith.

Buckley said his client denies knowing that the shooting was going to happen.

However, Green claimed Ambriz’s actions revealed his involvement in the crime.

The prosecutor claims Ambriz drove up next to Stith’s vehicle, then drove evasively following the shooting. Ambriz also gave three different names to authorities. "The manner he drove facilitated the shooting," Green said. "He drove up. It was a coordinated plan, and he began driving evasively after the shooting."

Ambriz’s case is not as strong as Vega’s and does not have the direct admission, and the judge ruled to hold Ambriz without bond.

According to court documents, Ambriz is an illegal alien with an outstanding order of removal from the United States. Court documents claim Ambriz is active in the Sureno 13 gang from southern California.

Federal authorities also revealed that Ambriz’s younger brother was murdered in a drive-by shooting in California, and in retaliation, their father, who is serving four life sentences in a California prison, killed the person who murdered his son and all of the shooter’s family members, according to court documents.

________________

Click on the link for the complete story.

The Tucson Local 2544 officers are all Border Patrol agents. They 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. They are the largest Local union in the Border Patrol.

They released the following statement today on their website:

Reports to Mexican Government - This Local has nothing to do with any alleged management directives to report the location of the Minutemen volunteers to the Mexican government. Our position on the Mexican government and their military is very clear. They are corrupt, they shoot at us, they smuggle drugs, they encourage illegal aliens to invade this country by the millions, they are not to be trusted, and they should have ZERO input into the internal policies of the United States of America. We have received a lot of e-mail on this issue. Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents have been angry for years about the Mexican Consulate invading our work stations, demanding interviews with prisoners, and basically being given free reign to do whatever they want. It''s been a standing joke for years that we should "check with the Mexican Consulate" to see if they approve before we do anything. Their influence on our politicians and upper managers is absolutely disgraceful.

The Department of Homeland Security/United States Border Patrol bureaucrats, in their non-denial denial statement regarding providing information on the Minutemen to the Mexican government, claimed, in essence, that under the agreement reached in the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, they are required to report certain information on the Minutemen to the Mexican Consulate.

That is an "inaccurate" claim.

Andrew C. McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, and a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies does an excellent analysis in the National Review Online:

Is the U.S. Giving Mexico Intelligence about Americans?
And will the immigration controversy boil over as a result?

By Andrew C. McCarthy

There is no more explosive issue on the political landscape than illegal immigration. Not only has it sharply divided the American people, who want it stopped and reversed, from the political classes, which want to legitimize and, perforce, encourage more of it. It may be singularly responsible for President Bush’s alarmingly low approval ratings.

~SNIP~

According to the report, a website maintained by the Mexican secretary of foreign relations explains that U.S. agents, as a matter of routine, notify the Mexican government regarding the locations of civilian border-patrol groups.

As night follows day, this information undermines the effectiveness of the patrols, channeling immigrant smuggling away from them. As Minuteman founder Chris Simcox told Carter, “Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time.” Chagrined, Simcox added, “It’s unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country. They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels.”

Apparently aware that this is a powder keg, DHS is scrambling to justify itself. Initially, a CPB spokesman confirmed the assertions of the Mexican government website. Now, however, a back-peddling DHS is labeling the Daily Bulletin story “inaccurate.”

~SNIP~

The DHS statement is noteworthy in two respects. First, while attempting to discredit the report about providing Mexico with intelligence, it does not clearly deny transmitting information about Minuteman patrols—something the CPB spokesman previously conceded quite matter-of-factly (saying, “It’s not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be”).

DHS instead says it “reports the allegation” if “improper treatment” is alleged. But we are not told what DHS considers “improper treatment” (e.g., does it consider patrols by the Minutemen—whom the President has labeled as “vigilantes”—to be improper?). Nor are we told how comprehensively DHS “reports” the matter to Mexico (e.g., does it simply notify Mexico that an arrest has been made, or does it convey an expansive summary of the case?).

Second, DHS seems to be saying that it was compelled to disclose whatever information it may have given to Mexico by the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which President Nixon ratified in 1969.

This latter claim bears scrutiny. The consular-notification convention, and in particular its Article 36, comes into play whenever an alien—legal or illegal—is arrested in the United States. It absolutely does not require U.S. authorities to provide any investigative information or other intelligence to foreign governments. Indeed, it does not necessarily require our government to give a foreign government any information whatsoever.

On the contrary, it provides that when a foreign national is detained, he has a right to have his nation’s consulate in the United States informed of the fact of the arrest. If he does not want his nation so advised, the U.S. is under no obligation to provide notice.

If the detainee does assert his consular-notification rights, the U.S. must advise the consulate of the fact of the arrest, pass along any communications the detainee addresses to his consulate, and allow representatives of the consulate to visit with the detainee.

That’s it. If the foreign government is determined to educate itself about the case, it must do so by interviewing the arrestee (just like a defense lawyer) or by open source information (just like a reporter or any person curious enough to check the public record). It has no claim on investigative or intelligence information maintained by the United States government. Of course, our government may decide to share more information with the foreign government; but if it does, that is a function of choice, not a requirement of law.

The reasons for all this should be obvious. Americans themselves are not entitled to intelligence and investigative information from their own government, so foreigners clearly have no legal basis to demand it.

~SNIP~

Much more excellent information in this piece. To read it in its entirety, click on the title link!

Further translation of these explosive documents outlining the out right SPYING by the Mexican Government via their consular operatives throughout the United States.

Individuals are listed here by name that the Mexican Government is actively tracking, and as a result of translating the other documents in this series, under the full knowledge and assistance of agencies of the United States Government.

Translation from the Spanish:

Outer Relations, the Undersecretary for North America, Gerónimo Gutiérrez, traveled the 28 from July to San Diego to directly coordinate the actions that the General Consulate of Mexico is developing. During his stay in that city he maintained meetings with: · Claudia Smith, leader of Rural California Legal Assistance Foundation, with that engaged in a dialog on the operative ones of "vigilantismo" registered in San Diego in the last weeks and on the work of legal attendance that makes its organization. · Darryl Griffen, Head of the Border Patrol of the Sector San Diego, who ratified that the Border Patrol will not allow any violation to the law and that is to the slope of the operative ones which they make these groups. Mr. Griffen reiterated to the Undersecretary his commitment to opportunely notify the General Consulate, in case that the vigilant calls stop or take part in the halting of Mexican undocumented people. It is possible to emphasize that in the first week of
August a meeting of coordination with border consuls will take place, in whom the 13 consuls of Mexico based on the border will discuss this subject with authorities of the Secretariat of Outer Relations, will evaluate the followed strategy and will define the next actions.

3.6 Nevada From the 27 to the 29 of May, the organization antiimmigrant Wake up America carried out, in Fertile valleys, Nevada, the national meeting "United to Fight against Illegal Immigration", with the objective to reunite to all the people and organizations involved in which they call "the fight against the invasion of the undocumented immigrants to the United States" and to manage with this to know themselves, to plan and to design directed strategies to reach the common goal. Even though one announced that they could arrive up to 1.000 assistants, only participated 200. In agreement with the program, the main orador was the Representative Tom Tancredo. Also antiimmigrants like Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox participated to leaders of groups, founders of the Minuteman project; Jan and William Herron, leaders of Defend Colorado Now; Glen Spencer, leader of American Border Patrol; Sharrar flash, founder of Arizona Patriots, organization of "watchmen" who operate in Yuma; Andy Ramirez, leader of Friends of the Border Patrol, organization who operates in California; Rick Oltman, representative of FAIR; Barbara Coe, of California for Coalition Immigration Reform and coauthor of proposal 187; Lupe Moreno and Angie Morfin, members of the Republican Hispanic Assembly, among others.

http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/reporte3.htm#3.3

Third Reporte on vigilantismo activities

snip

What you are reading above is akin to the old style cold war spying reports of handlers. The bushy eyebrowed Bolshevik has been replaced with Mexican Consulates...or shoud I say Spy Nests....the game is the same except this time....we are helping them.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TIP-OFFS BY US GOVERNMENT TO MEXICAN OFFICIALS ON MINUTEMEN NOT LIMITED TO BORDER

(PHOENIX, AZ) May 10, 2006 – News reports detailing how the U.S. Border Patrol has been disclosing locations and background information of Minuteman activities along the border to Mexican officials have now broadened in scope. The reports obtained from the Mexican government include an August 2005 document, "Third Report on the Activities of Vigilantes" – posted on Mexico''s Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site – suggesting U.S. officials were giving out more details than plausibly required by the Vienna Convention. Part of that information included reports on activities in the interior of the United States in locations such as Illinois, Nevada, Utah, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

From the Mexican government website: http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/reporte3.htm

In the new statement by the Border Patrol officially denying that any such cooperative activity with the Mexican government took place, they gave no explanation why the U.S. Border Patrol initially confirmed their own actions in the earlier report as a “cooperative agreement” with Mexico: “[Border Patrol Spokesman Mario] Martinez said Mexico''s official perception of the civilian groups is that they are vigilantes, a belief the Border Patrol hoped to allay by entering into the cooperative agreement.”

According to reports in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin today, the Chertoff aide who contacted Sara Carter, the reporter who broke this story yesterday, would not elaborate on the current Border Patrol statement to give any explanation of their earlier confirmation of the story.

From Sara Carter in today''s Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

Officials disclaim Bulletin ''tipping'' report
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3803897

EXCERPT:

Scott James, a former Tucson agent, resigned after eight years of service in February, citing a lack of support for agents by the Department of Homeland Security.

He said that U.S. Border Patrol officials provided office space inside their headquarters to Mexican consulate officials, allowed the consulate to dictate the agents'' activities, and gave the consulate information on ongoing investigations.

Such courtesies were not extended to consulate offices of other countries, James said.

~END~

Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, issued the following statement:

“The initial reports appear to be the tip of the iceberg. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has been warning people that our government has no intention of taking the necessary steps to secure our borders. It now appears that the U.S. government has proactively taken steps to ensure that the open border status quo is maintained. Even if we take the latest statement from the Border Patrol denying involvement as truth, at best the report on the Mexican consulate website exposes widespread espionage, and systematic spying against free and law-abiding American citizens, on the part of the Mexican government – with or without U.S. government assistance.”

###

Widespread reports yesterday of the U.S. Border Patrol reporting locations of Minuteman activities along the border have now broadened in scope. The reports obtained from the Mexican government include an August 2005 document, "Third Report on the Activities of Vigilantes" -- posted on Mexico''s Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site -- suggest U.S. officials were giving out more details than required by the Vienna Convention. Part of that information included reports on activities in the interior United States in locations such as Illinois, Nevada, Utah, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

The Department of Homeland Security in a statement is now officially denying any such activity took place giving no explanation why the Border Patrol confirmed the report earlier in the day.

In the initial report yesterday from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Border Patrol spokesman Mario Martinez confirmed the activity saying Mexico''s official perception of the civilian groups is that they are vigilantes, a belief the Border Patrol hoped to allay by entering into the cooperative agreement.

According to reports in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin today, the Department of Homeland Security would not elaborate on their statement to give any broader explanation.

From Sara Carter in today''s Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

Officials disclaim Bulletin ''tipping'' report
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is refuting a Daily Bulletin report that the U.S. Border Patrol provided information to the Mexican government about the whereabouts of civilian border watch groups.

~SNIP~

Kristi Clemens, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, would not elaborate on the agency''s statement other than to say the U.S. gives information to Mexican officials under the rules of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, which provides foreign nationals being detained by a government the right to consular access.

"This is the same agreement that protects United States citizens when they travel to foreign countries," according to the statement.

~SNIP~

Some of the information cited in the Mexican document originally was given only to U.S. Border Patrol and law enforcement officials, border watch organizers said.

"Nobody but law enforcement and Border Patrol knew where we were at," said Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Chino-based nonprofit group Friends of the Border Patrol. "So how is our base address on a Mexican government document dated last August? Nobody, not even media, had this information."

Ramirez said he revealed the location of his base camp only to local and federal officials. The Mexican document gives the exact location of his group''s site, which was on private property near San Diego.

According to Ramirez, the group had no encounters at that site with undocumented migrants, which would have been the only cause for that information to be revealed under the Vienna Convention.

~SNIP~

However, the Mexican report also contains specific information on civilian groups operating much farther inside the United States.

For example, the document notes that 50 Minuteman volunteers work in Chicago, focusing mainly on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Minuteman volunteers said specific information -- such as the number of volunteers and their plans -- could have been provided only by law enforcement officials at that time. The document credits the various Mexican consul general offices in the U.S. with providing the information to the Mexican Foreign Secretary for the reports.

"How did they know the number of volunteers in Chicago? And why should the Mexican government care?" asked Connie Hair, spokeswoman for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in Washington, D.C.

~SNIP~

Scott James, a former Tucson agent, resigned after eight years of service in February, citing a lack of support for agents by the Department of Homeland Security.

He said that U.S. Border Patrol officials provided office space inside their headquarters to Mexican consulate officials, allowed the consulate to dictate the agents'' activities, and gave the consulate information on ongoing investigations.

Such courtesies were not extended to consulate offices of other countries, James said.

Much, much more in today''s report. To read the full article, click on the title link!

We want to thank William Mayer. E&P at pipelinenews.org, for taking our earlier posted challenge to start deciphering the various Mexican websites and the information they contain concerning the co-operation of the United States Government and Mexican officials.

It seems that contact between the two governments concerning Minutemen activities is not just being tracked in the border states, but nationwide.

Via pipelinenews.org

May 10, 2006 San Francisco, CA – PipeLinenews.org - Public documents available on Mexico’s Secretary of Exterior Relations’ [SER] website - only yesterday revealed in a series of articles dealing with the charge that American authorities are conspiring with the Mexican government to spy on American border activists – detail a level of intimidation on the part of the Mexican government and a level of acquiescence by the U.S. government heretofore unimaginable.

The documents:
http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/reporte1.htm#3.3 http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/reporte2.htm#3.3 http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/reporte3.htm#3.3 http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/ http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/masinformacion.htm http://www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/casojoseantonio.htm

In early Spring of 2005 the Mexican SER directed all U.S. based Mexican consulates to conduct surveillance on border activists including those involved in the Minuteman Project, to interact with all levels of the leadership of American institutions including law enforcement, and transmit that information back to the Fox government.

Whereas it was believed that this activity was only taking place in limited areas the documents make it clear that Mexican consulates have been active in a massive surveillance and information gathering program throughout the United States - in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts and Tennessee, detailing the activities and identifying American citizens and border activist groups by name and reporting back to Mexican authorities.

snip

Interested parties are encouraged to copy the material presented in the links. We have a feeling they won''t be up on the net long.

For full article click on title link

I''d like to see your translations of this document from the Mexican Consulate''s page, and maybe some explanations of why Tennessee and Massachusetts are states on the southern border of the US, where apparently it''s necessary to protect border crossers from the Minutemen! This should be interesting!

Mexican Consulate''s intelligence information, from their site.

Enjoy --

Tony

This story is breaking today on the Minutemen, but it will be buried in the Mexican government story. The MCDC press release will go out later in the week or Monday, in hopes that the border fence ground-breaking announcement will not get buried!

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps will soldier on, despite the betrayal by our government.

From the Associated Press, via the Arizona Republic:

Minutemen to start building border fence May 27

Associated Press
May. 9, 2006 02:31 PM

TUCSON - Anticipating no response to its demand that President Bush place U.S. troops on the Mexican border, a civilian watch group said Tuesday it will start building a short border security fence May 27 on private land.

Last month, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps leader Chris Simcox said the group would break ground to start putting up fencing privately unless the White House deployed military reserves or the National Guard to the border by May 25 and endorsed more secure fencing.

"We are not anticipating that the White House will make any effort in the next 2 1/2 weeks as far as putting troops on the border, or even as far as moving training to the border," Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair said.

The group initially plans to put up two parallel 15-foot high steel-mesh fences, anywhere from 50 to 150 feet long, on a ranch in southern Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the U.S.-Mexico border. An unpaved road will run between the fences.

Hair declined to reveal the location in hopes of avoiding harassment, repercussions or retaliation.

Todd Fraser, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman in Washington, said the agency has no position on such fencing.

"If private citizens want to construct something on their property ... who is the Border Patrol to say they can''t do it?" Fraser said.

The Minuteman group has received about $175,000 in Internet donations to build fencing, while others have volunteered time, equipment and materials, Hair said.

To read the entire article click here: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0509az-border-fence09-ON.html

For some reason this url wouldn''t work in the title link!

This press release just in via email from Congressman Tom Tancredo''s office:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 9, 2006

Tancredo Rips Government''s Spying of Minutemen

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressmen Tom Tancredo (R-CO) decried a recently-disclosed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) practice of tipping off the Mexican military to the location of Minutemen volunteers. According to a story in this morning''s Inland Daily Bulletin, CBP notifies the Mexican government of when and where the Minutemen are planning to monitor the border and if violence is used by the Minutemen against illegal aliens. There has not been one verified instance of Minutemen volunteers using violence against illegal aliens.

"The Mexican military doesn''t exactly have a ''good government'' reputation. The Border Patrol has documented more than two hundred incursions into the U.S by the Mexican military, and Texas sheriffs even apprehended Mexican government vehicles that were used to ferry drug runners across the border. By tipping off Mexico''s military to the Minutemen''s location, the U.S. government is asking for trouble," said Tancredo.

"Heavily-armed military officials stationed only yards from civilians are at least intimidating. I can only surmise that the Border Patrol bureaucrats'' spying is meant to have a chilling effect on the Minutemen''s recruitment of more volunteers," said Tancredo.

"The Minutemen haven''t been accused of breaking the law. Quite the contrary-they have gone out of their way to aid law enforcement and ensure the safety of our border. The U.S. government has no grounds upon which to stifle the Minutemen''s constitutional right to organize," Tancredo concluded. "I want to know the legal basis for CBP informing a foreign government of the activities of private citizens who are obeying the law."

###

God bless Congressman Tom Tancredo.

Sara Carter, a reporter with the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, reports today that she found documentation on Mexican government websites that show higher ups in the United States Border Patrol have been tipping off the corrupt Mexican government as to the locations of the Minutemen along the border.

This article does not report information told to the MCDC media offices that the Border Patrol chiefs have also been passing along intelligence reports to the government of Mexico on the activities of Minutemen not only at the borders, but in locations such as Utah, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Perhaps a follow-up story is coming tomorrow or an over zealous editor took the info out?

Part of a report distributed last August to the Mexican government from Border Patrol bureaucrats read over the phone to the MCDC media offices contained not only numbers (estimated chapter membership) of Minutemen in Illinois, but a statement on their activities and that they didn''t seem to know any politicians there, indicating that the Illinois Minutemen didn''t yet have any political clout.

That is not a report on the location of Minutemen at the border, but political intelligence from our government to a foreign nation about the activities of American citizens petitioning our own government for redress of grievances.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps media offices will contact the reporter to inquire about copies of the documents and the timing on a follow-up story with the reports to the Mexican government of activities of Minutemen in INTERIOR states, as if reports of our locations in the border states weren''t bad enough.

From today''s Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer

While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen -- and telling the Mexican government where they are.

According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants -- and if and when violence is used against border crossers.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants'' rights are being observed.

"It''s not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be," Mario Martinez said Monday.

"This ... simply makes two basic statements -- that we will not allow any lawlessness of any type, and that if an alien is encountered by a Minuteman or arrested by the Minuteman, then we will allow that government to interview the person."

Minuteman members were not so sanguine about the arrangement, however, saying that reporting their location to Mexican officials nullifies their effectiveness along the border and could endanger their lives.

"Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time," said Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "It''s unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country. They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels.

"They just basically endangered the lives of American people."

Officials with the Mexican consulate in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment Monday.

Martinez said reporting the location of immigrant apprehensions to consulate representatives is common practice if an illegal immigrant requests counsel or believes they have been mistreated.

"Once an illegal alien is apprehended, they can request counsel," he said. "We have to give their counsel the information about their apprehension, and that includes where they are apprehended, whether a Minuteman volunteer spotted them or a citizen."

~SNIP~

The documents specifically named the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and its patrols, which began monitoring Arizona''s southern border in April 2005, as well as Friends of the Border Patrol, a Chino-based nonprofit.

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing more than 10,000 Border Patrol agents, said agents have complained for years about the Mexican consulate''s influence over the agency.

"It worries me (that the Mexican government) seems to be unduly influencing our enforcement policies. That''s not a legitimate role for any foreign nation," Bonner said, though he added, "It doesn''t surprise me."

Border Patrol agents interviewed by the Daily Bulletin said they have been asked to report to sector headquarters the location of all civilian volunteer groups, but to not file the groups'' names in reports if they spot illegal immigrants.

"Last year an internal memo notified all agents not to give credit to Minuteman volunteers or others who call in sightings of illegal aliens," said one agent, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. "We were told to list it as a citizen call and leave it at that. Many times, we were told not to go out to Minuteman calls."

~SNIP~

Much more information in the full article, so click on the title link to read it!

Many of you have seen what a lay-up site looks like from the video links on the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps home page

The Minutemen are spearheading a desert cleanup effort and need your help!

This just in from Stacey O''Connell, Arizona State Director of the MCDC:

Morgan City Wash Clean-up Event Near LAKE PLEASANT
Northwest of Phoenix, AZ, Maricopa County
Saturday, May 20, 2006
8am to Sunset

Spearheaded by:

Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC)

Contact: Stacey O''Connell, AZ State Director, AzCactus@aol.com
Hank Fields, Phoenix Chapter Director, hnknaz@aol.com
Sandi DuJean, Minuteman Volunteer, sandi@dujean.com

Sponsors:

Bureau of Land Management (dumpsters, bags, porta potties)
Arizona Hunters Who Care (dust masks, wheelbarrows)

What to bring:

This is an area called a lay-up site used by illegal immigrants and coyote smugglers. The area is littered with garbage from this activity. Please use all caution when handling garbage in the area. Use of dust masks and gloves is strongly recommended.

Please bring the following, although some items will be supplied, it’s best to bring what you can:

-gloves
-sunscreen
-water bottles
-snacks
-trash pokers if you have them
-folding chair
-closed toed shoes
-long pants, long sleeved light-colored shirt
-hat with wide brim
-sunglasses

*Please use care with your personal property (phones, badges, etc), as none of us will want to comb through the dumpsters looking for a lost item! Also leave expensive belongings at home as the cars will be parked in an area separate from the clean up site and there will be limited security.

MCDC AZ is requesting all AZ Minutemen, their families and friends, concerned citizens and ecological groups join with us this day. This is a “Lay-Up” area where illegals gather prior to being picked up by their ride to interior portions of our nation. Backpacks, clothing, food wrappers, water bottles, hygiene gear, you name it... its on the ground.

BLM is sponsoring us in a big way and Sheriff Arpaio may be supplying a ‘Chain-Gang’ to assist.

Join us for an early start May 20th, lets beat the heat and get this place clean. Gloves provided free of charge.

BRING WATER!

Volunteers needed to drive others back and forth from parking areas to the Lay-Up area (trucks please), volunteers needed to help designate parking. Please contact Sandi or Hank with your intent.

Directions:

Just off of highway 74, West of I17. Taking highway 74 West, look for milepost 18, approximately 0.6 mile past the milepost is a paved road to the right/North. Turn onto this road and follow the signs to the volunteer registration booth and parking area. (Ahead on the left/East side of the road.) You will be required to sign a wavier to participate. From this area, you will be directed where to walk back to the clean up site. Please DO NOT pull into the clean up site; you will pass this area first on the left as you head to the parking area.

Fallout is swiftly taking shape against those companies that closed their doors during the Sans-Mex day last week.

Although there were many more, the Tyson Foods chicken plants seem to be the meat packing plant(s) that have caught the attention of both the media and general debate.

Not to pile on just Tyson as there were many others, but their spokesman had the gall in this article to stick his hands in his pocket, shrug his shoulders and say….”what…what…we got no illegals here…what”

Via Human Events Online:

Tyson Foods Inc., the world''s largest meat producer, shut five of nine beef plants and four of six pork plants in anticipation of widespread absences," the Associated Press reported. "Perdue Farms, the nation''s third-largest chicken producer, closed eight processing plants in seven states. Cargill Meat Solutions, the nation''s second-largest beef processor, gave more than 15,000 workers the day off and closed plants in six states."

While not naming any specific employers, Representatives Jack Kingston (R.-Ga.) and Marsha Blackburn (R.-Tenn.) reacted to reports of boycott-related plant closings by writing to Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to insist that her agency investigate to see if closed plants were hiring illegal aliens.

snip

For full article click on title link

Breaking news out of Florida. The heat is definitely on. From coast to coast news is breaking of city, state…and now Fed crackdowns on the practice of hiring illegal labor. All of the efforts of concerned citizens are starting to produce results.

In this case, notice where the illegals were working….at the main gate of the military installation. Also of interest is that United States Attorney’s Office is prosecuting. KUDOS to the military personnel who contacted ICE.

Via theconservativevoice.com

Three men were arrested earlier this week in Florida by federal agents following the discovery of their illegal presence in the country by military personnel working at the Tyndall Air Force Base''s main gate. The men, all citizens of Mexico, were employed by a sub-contractor to do scaffolding work at the military base.

Military personnel immediately contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement to verify the status of those seeking entry into the facility.

The three men were taken into custody for administrative immigration violations. One of the subjects was in possession of a fraudulent resident alien card. His case was presented to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida and criminal prosecution was accepted.

Unauthorized workers employed in sensitive security sites and critical infrastructure facilities -- such as military installations, airports, nuclear power and chemical plants and defense contractors -- are vulnerable to exploitation by terrorists, smugglers, traffickers or other criminals, according to officials at the Homeland Security Department.

snip

For full article click on title link

The San Diego Ca region is a large metropolitan area, smaller communities to the north are feeling the financial pain of caring for illegal aliens drawn to the region via their health care.

This June, several communities unable to pay the cost of health care have banded together and are putting forth Prop F. This bond issue will raise property taxes for everyone specifically for the purpose of illegal alien health care. This article caught our eye as it is something that will be coming to your community soon.

Via North Country Times

San Diego- As the June primary election approaches, proponents of Prop. F, Tri-City Medical Center''s $596 million construction and renovation bond, increasingly find themselves talking about an issue they cannot control: illegal immigration.

If it passes on June 6, Prop. F would increase property taxes in most of Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad by $23.40 per $100,000 of a property''s assessed value. According to the hospital''s master plan, the bond would pay for 70 percent of Tri-City''s existing facilities to be demolished and replaced with a modern new six-story medical tower on Vista Way.

Snip

For full article click on title link

If this bond passes, they will soon need a bond for schools, jails, and social services. The money is drying up. Someone has to pay to support illegal aliens…..and as Prop F so clearly indicates, it will be the individual property owners.