Minuteman National Blog

This just in from our Arizona Chapter Leader, Stacey O''Connell:

"Good news today as the Barnett trail ends. For those following his story, this is great news!"

I agree -- the Barnetts have been waiting for some vindication for quite some time, and it appears that they have it:

BISBEE — It took a Superior Court jury less than 15 minutes Friday to decide in favor of defendants Roger, Barbara and Donald Barnett in a civil suit that charged them with trespassing on a monastery’s ranch in order to detain a group of illegal immigrants.

And while immigration politics were brought up both overtly and subtly throughout the trial, a juror told the Herald/Review the verdict was reached solely on the legal merits of the trespassing charge.

Donald J. Mackenzie, 65, an official with the Summerland Monastery and the caretaker of its WindTree Ranch in Douglas, brought the suit against the Barnetts after an Oct. 11, 2003, incident in which he found the three defendants with approximately 30 migrant men, women and children at his property’s water well.

Mackenzie alleged that the Barnett men were dressed that day in law enforcement-type outfits. Thinking they were affiliated with the Border Patrol, he left the migrants in their care.

Later, after he determined that one of the men was Roger Barnett, a well-known anti-illegal-immigration activist who says he has performed citizen’s arrests of more than 12,000 migrants, Mackenzie said he became distressed and decided to file charges.

For their part, the Barnetts argued that they had been welcome guests on the property, that they wore civilian clothing, and that they led the migrants to the well because the group was dehydrated and needed water.

According to a jury member who wished to remain anonymous, after three days of testimony in the case, the five-woman, three-man panel voted immediately and unanimously that no trespass had occurred.

-SNIP-

To see the rest of the story, click on the title link.

To discuss this on our Minuteman Forums, click on THIS link:

http://forum.minutemanhq.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=6566#6566

Minuteman Border Fence
Planning is Completed
Ready to Start Second Site

An Update from the Minuteman Fence Project Manager

Chris Simcox has kept his promise and volunteers have begun building the Minuteman Border Fence. Chris has asked me (Peter Kunz) to give you a quick update on the activities and planning for the current fence project and our next site that starts in July.

People in opposition to the fence who are not part of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps have been talking to each other in emails and on the radio—and we have a case of the blind leading the blind. No one has called the Project Manager to get the facts, which follow.

First, let me say thanks to the brave ranchers who are stepping up to put their lives on the line to stop the illegal invasion. They live and work within spitting distance of the Mexican border every day. These brave men and women are working side by side with Minutemen in this war zone they call home, allowing us to secure America.

Second, let’s be clear. Not every single mile of the border or every ranch or rancher is the same. The full-on Israeli-style Security Fence is our primary design and first choice for construction. However, when circumstances dictate adjustment to a Border Fence with barbed wire and a vehicle barrier or another design to meet local requirements, we will make the necessary adaptations—and keep building.

Our plan: Do the job until our government does its duty.

Announce the need for the Minuteman Border Fence.

Ask again that President Bush do his duty and secure the border.

Schedule a groundbreaking to get the Border Fence launched.

Begin raising the $55 million needed for 70 miles of fence in AZ.

Work with ranchers to design fence to meet specific private landsite requirements.

Get steel and contractors to manage the sites.

Register and vet fencing volunteers.

Build a Minuteman Fence Security Plan to patrol fencing.

Set up Volunteer Crews administration and crew management.

Continue to build fence as fast as resources allow.

Start more sites in TX, CA and NM as donations and volunteer capacity permit.

Continue Border Watch and Fence Operations until the border is secure.

The Facts:
A Comprehensive Design

Numerous fence design variations will be required to effectively deal with border crossings by illegal aliens, drug dealers and livestock. Derivation from the primary design is necessary to accommodate local ranchers’ specific terrain, topography, herds and other factors.

The important point to remember is that MCDC will not let Vincente Fox tell us or the US ranchers we are working with where or what we can build. No matter what the fence design, MCDC will erect a well-built fence—and fences work. We know they are effective, because we see the results; incursions reduced, and all of the opposition groups and open border supporters screaming to stop the fence.

~SNIP~

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

To discuss this topic on our Minuteman Forum, click here:

http://forum.minutemanhq.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=889

You''ll find all sorts of information on the SPP on our Minuteman forum on the thread linked above in the title. Now for the bombshell:

Congressman Culberson said, "Unfortunately, the Administration signed a totalization agreement with Mexico on June 29, 2004, and the White House will not let Congress see it, which makes me very suspicious. Reliable reports tell me that this agreement will put every illegal alien from Mexico and their entire extended family anywhere in the world on our overburdened Social Security system. I strenuously oppose the effort to legalize illegal aliens through the Senate bill, and I will vigorously oppose any effort to open up our Social Security system to illegal aliens and their families through this totalization agreement. The Appropriations Committee agreed with me today that we should not place this immense and totally unfair burden on our Social Security system."

Click on the title link for more information.

The United States Supreme Court Thursday ruled against a longtime illegal alien who had been repeatedly deported, which, by the way, is a felony in these United States.

From the Associated Press:

Top Court Rules Against Illegal Immigrant

By The Associated Press
Fri, Jun. 23 2006 01:26 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to some longtime illegal residents, upholding the deportation of a Mexican man who lived in the United States for 20 years.

By an 8-1 vote, justices said that Humberto Fernandez-Vargas, who was deported several times from the 1970s to 1981, is subject to a 1996 law Congress passed to streamline the legal process for expelling aliens who have been deported at least once before and returned.

After his last deportation in 1981, Fernandez-Vargas returned to the United States, fathered a child, started a trucking company in Utah and eventually married his longtime companion, a U.S. citizen.

But by the time he applied for legal status — after his marriage in 2001 — Congress had passed the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which revoked the right to appeal to an immigration judge an order of removal.

Fernandez-Vargas was sent back to Mexico in 2004, and wanted to return to his family in the United States. He argued that the 1996 law should not be applied to him because he last entered America more than a decade before Congress passed the statute.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click here: http://www.christianpost.com/article.htm?aid=19432&dat=20060623

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DHS REPORTS 45,008 ILLEGAL ALIENS RELEASED FROM TERROR-SPONSORING COUNTRIES

PHOENIX, AZ (June 22, 2006) – Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), released the following statement in response to the recent report released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General:

“On May 19th, three days after DHS Czar Michael Chertoff briefed the press on President Bush’s illegal immigration amnesty cum border security plans, DHS released a report completed by its Inspector General back in mid-April. This report was made “public” without a press release and late on a Friday to make sure this searing report got little or no attention. Contained in this DHS report was the astonishing admission that tens of thousands of illegals from terrorist-sponsoring states were silently released into the neighborhoods of America between 2001 and 2005, even though their identities—much less their purposes for being in the U.S.—could not be confirmed by immigration officials.

“It is absolutely appalling that 45,008 illegal aliens from countries on the U.S. list of state-sponsors of terror (SST) and from countries that protect terrorists (SIC) were released onto the streets of America and it is still not known how many of these illegals were actually deported, if any.

“As the U.S. Senate continues to obstruct real border security, and the House of Representatives announces field hearings to assess the illegal immigration situation, tens of thousands of potential terrorists are roaming sovereign U.S. territory free to plan, plot and carry out violent, hostile, potentially devastating attacks on American soil. Unarmed members of the National Guard have been deployed to our southern frontier to do vehicle maintenance and paperwork while our borders remain wide open to terrorists, arms and drug traffickers, rapists, thieves, murderers and millions of illegal, unidentified migrants. President Bush seems to suffer from the notion that the most urgent problem facing our Border Patrol is a lack of competent office help. Nero fiddles while Rome burns.”

To read the full DHS/IG report buried deep in the recesses of the DHS website:

http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/OIG_06-33_Apr06.pdf

To read the Front Page Magazine article that broke this story:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22830

###

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

Judge allows voter ID rule to stand
Extra proof of citizenship needed on mail-in sign-ups

The Associated Press
Published: 06.20.2006

A federal judge has rejected a request to temporarily prevent Arizona election officials from requiring that federal mail-in voter registration forms be accompanied by additional proof of citizenship.

Lawyers for advocacy groups that made the request said they will considering appealing the decision and continue to challenge the voting provisions of Proposition 200, a voter-approved law that denied some government benefits to illegal immigrants.

The law also required would-be voters to submit proof of citizenship when registering and proof of identity when casting ballots at polling places.

Tribal, Hispanic and other groups had argued the federal government has mandated use of the mail-in voter registration forms as-is and that requiring additional documentation of citizenship hinders the rights of voters.

Attorneys for the state argued that Arizona is allowed to verify the eligibility of people registering to vote and that the policy debate over Proposition 200 is over.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver said the state''s proof of citizenship requirement doesn''t conflict with the federal law that governs the registration forms.

"Determining whether an individual is a United States citizen is of paramount importance when determining his or her eligibility to vote," the judge wrote.

~SNIP~

WOOHOO! Prop 200 survives! To read the rest of the story, click here:

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/16391.php

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

In a little-noticed DHS report that was released on a Friday afternoon without even a press release, Chertoff reports that 45,008 illegals from terror-sponsoring countries were released (catch and release program) between 2001 and 2005, many whose identity was not confirmed before being released.

Front Page Magazine had a piece on this June 8th:

Broken
By Kenneth R. Timmerman
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 8, 2006

While the White House argues with the Heritage Foundation over how many new immigrants will be minted by the administration’s immigration plan, and Congress debates how many miles of fencing they should fund along the Mexican border, no on is paying attention to the real immigration scandal. If left unattended, this one could cost the lives of millions of Americans, not just their livelihoods.

Even as we speak, tens of thousands of illegals from terrorist-sponsoring states are roaming the streets of America, according to a stunning new report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

Although the report was completed by mid-April, DHS did not to release the 52-page indictment of our nation’s immigration system until May 19, three days after DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff briefed the press on the administration’s immigration reform plan.

Just to make sure the report received little attention, it was released on a Friday, when Congress and most newshounds had left for the weekend, and did not merit even a press release.

It should be required reading for anyone seriously concerned in immigration reform – which may be why you’ll have a hard time finding it on the DHS website. You can download it here.

The report reveals that 45,008 aliens from countries on the U.S. list of state-sponsors of terror (SST) or from countries that protected terrorist organizations and their members (SIC) were released into the general public between 2001 and 2005, even though immigration officers couldn’t confirm their identity.

Even worse, “it is not known exactly how many of these SIC and SST aliens were ultimately issued final orders of removal and actually removed, since such data is not tracked” by the Detention and Removal Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the report said.

~SNIP~

To read the entire article, click here: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22830

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