Minuteman National Blog

This was submitted as a comment by T.H. Frederiksen on another post, but the video is worth watching! It makes a powerful statement.

I was driving back from Nogalas Mexico to Tucson last week and the PERMANENT border patrol station...everyone knows it''s there...wasn''t even manned....good grief...what border security.

Anyway, I had my trusty video camera with me and made the following little movie..no comments about my acting ability.....

TO VIEW THE VIDEO, CLICK HERE!

Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, wrote a commentary for New American Media about illegal immigration.

An excerpt:

WASHINGTON, D.C.--There are many signs that our immigration system is broken, and that more of the same policies won''t make it work.

An estimated 11 million undocumented persons live and work in the United States today. Smugglers, traffickers and criminal elements who prey on undocumented migrants are hurting border communities.

Nearly 2,000 migrants have died trying to cross our border from the south in the five years from 1998 through 2003, and nearly 400 migrants continue to die at our borders every year.

Service-sector employers can''t get legal workers -- restaurants, nursing homes, construction companies, childcare centers and landscaping firms are among those facing severe and growing worker shortages. Seasonal temporary visas can''t meet the demand. The winter vegetable crop is rotting in the fields because fewer than one-half the workers needed for the harvest are currently available.

Family immigration backlogs are extensive. Spouses and children currently wait three to five years to reunite with their lawful permanent resident loved ones, with the waits extending seven to 10 years for Mexicans.

What will it take to fix this broken system? What can meet our nation''s labor needs as well as uphold its values in support of family unity.

SNIP

We need a better system. We need comprehensive reform that will make immigration safe, orderly legal and controlled. Such reform must provide three things: 1) an opportunity for people already living and working here to earn permanent legal status; 2) a new temporary worker program with adequate labor protections, so that essential workers can enter the U.S. safely, legally and expeditiously; and 3) reductions in the backlog in family-based immigration so that families can unite in a timely way.

Proposals that lack these three components and seek only to increase enforcement of the current unworkable system will only perpetuate and exacerbate current problems.

The window of opportunity for significant action on immigration is spring 2006. By late spring, attention will turn to the upcoming midterm elections, and the immigration issue will once again be deferred until the new Congress convenes in 2007.

The dangers are many. Congress may enact harsh enforcement measures, such as the recently passed Sensenbrenner bill in the House, that do nothing to increase our nation''s security but only raise the pressures on hardworking but undocumented immigrants. These workers will be forced to remain in the shadows. More and more immigrants will resort to dangerous paths of entry to the United States and more and more will die in the process.

Or Congress may engage in honest debate and enact realistic and comprehensive reform that ensures that the United States will remain a nation of laws and of immigrants in the decades to come.

It''s always good to get other opinions. Click the title link for the entire piece. The Senate is taking up the issue up next month. Stay informed, stay active.

From our friends at the Washington Times:

Minutemen announce April border campaign
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 17, 2006

Minuteman founder Chris Simcox yesterday announced plans for a new nationwide "Secure Our Borders" campaign in April, saying 6,500 civilian volunteers will man observation posts and conduct patrols along 800 miles of U.S. border with Mexico and Canada.

Mr. Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), said new efforts are being made to better respond to thousands of civilians who are expected to volunteer and a revised leadership structure has been established to meet what he called "the growing needs of continued Minuteman border security operations."

Minuteman chapters have been established or are pending in 35 states, he said.

~SNIP~

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

IFIRE (Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform & Enforcement) and the Indiana Minuteman Chapter will be holding a Stop the Intrusion protest on Saturday, February 25, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. outside the Mexican Consulate at Union Station in Indianapolis.

WHAT: Protest of the Mexican Government''s Meddling

WHEN: February 25, 2006, 11:00 AM.

WHERE: 39 W. Jackson Place, Indianapolis, IN

Hello to all Minuteman and IFIRE members and patriots! There will be a protest of the Mexican government''s meddling in US affairs at 11 a.m. on February 25, 2006, in front of the Mexican Consulate, 39 W. Jackson Place, Indianapolis, the northern side of Union Station. (Plug address into MapQuest.com for a map of the location.)

Remember, this protest is against the Mexican government, not Mexicans. We will be using the Minuteman Organization''s Standard Operating Procedures, FOUND HERE. Please read these common sense procedures at your earliest convenience.

If you''re tired of the Mexican government threatening the US with lawsuits if we dare act like we''re going to enforce our immigration laws...

If you''re sick of hearing Mexican government officials threaten the Minuteman organization with "criminal charges" in the World Court for actually caring enough about their country to protect it...

If you''re disgusted with the Mexican government urging their citizens to break our laws...

If you''re fed up with Mexican government officials demanding we treat their citizens as US citizens, with the costs paid by American tax dollars...

If you''re angry that Mexican government officials travel the US lobbying our politicians to ignore our laws...

Then YOU are the perfect person to attend this protest! Get your family and friends to come! Let''s tell the Mexican government to BUTT OUT!

If you need ideas for signs or if you have ideas for signs, feel free to contact us. If you have any questions or if you have trouble opening the flyer attachment, please get in touch with us. We look forward to seeing you there!

Natisha Cooper and Teresa Keefer, Co-Directors

www.IFIRE.org@hotmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MINUTEMAN CIVIL DEFENSE CORPS
ANNOUNCES NATIONWIDE ‘SECURE OUR BORDERS’ OPERATION FOR APRIL 2006

New National Operations Team Established

(PHOENIX, AZ) February 16, 2006 – Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), today announced plans for the group’s nationwide “Secure Our Borders” campaign in April 2006. Simcox also announced a new operational structure for the original Minuteman Border Project to meet the growing needs of the continued expansion of Minuteman border security operations.

Thousands of MCDC volunteers, augmented by the new national support team, will hold border watch patrols in northern and southern states along an estimated 800 miles of international borders during the month of April. The Minutemen will observe and report suspected illegal border crossings to the proper authorities. As always, they will maintain a “no contact” policy with the exception of providing emergency water to those illegal aliens found in distress in the wilderness.

Last year, MCDC revolutionized the national debate about border security and illegal immigration by focusing the nation’s attention on the dangers of America’s wide-open borders in a post 9/11 world. The Minutemen have demonstrated that the borders can be secured with sufficient political will and dedication.

Since the MCDC 23-mile border watch in April, 2005, interest in joining and supporting the Minutemen has exploded nationwide. MCDC chapters have been formed in southern and northern border states, as well as interior states. To date, 6,500 men and women have passed the required background check and interviews to qualify to become official Minuteman Border Project volunteers – with more waiting in the queue for approval. Over 120,000 people have become friends of the Minutemen through their support and volunteer work.

Given the success of the Minuteman Border Project efforts, and two successful month long 24/7 operations conducted in April and October of 2005, a new national volunteer operational structure has been launched to support the Minutemen. The new structure is necessary to respond to these thousands of volunteers and supporters asking what they can do to help.

MCDC has asked for and accepted the help of experienced border volunteers who have been on the front lines, some for as long as four years. With this expansion we will be ready for the thousands of volunteers who will participate in the “Secure Our Borders” operation in April 2006. This expansion further solidifies MCDC’s ability to continue the largest neighborhood watch effort in American history. The Minutemen will continue their civil defense operations assisting authorities in securing the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada until properly relieved.

Expanded Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Organization

• New expanded national office with national volunteer staff structure in Phoenix, AZ
• National staff members are all experienced Minuteman border volunteers

Executive Director – Al Garza
Director National Border Operations – Bill Irwin
Director National Training – Bob Wright
Director National Vetting – Connie Foust
National Office Chief of Staff – Rick Lowell
National Media – Connie Hair
National Recruiting Director – Carmen Mercer
National Fundraising Director – Carmen Mercer

Expanded Minuteman Border Project State Chapter Directors

Arizona State Director – Stacey O’Connell
California State Director – Tim Donnelly
New Mexico State Director – Bob Wright
Texas State Director – Dr. Mike Vickers
Florida State Director – Mike Jarbeck
Oklahoma State Director – Greg Thompson
New York State Director – Peter Lanteri
New England Regional Director – Jeff Buck
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine
Illinois State Director – Rosanne Pulido
Virginia State Director – George Taplin
Maryland State Director – Stephen Schreiman
Pennsylvania State Director – John Ryan
New Jersey State Director – Frank Shallis
Northwest Regional Director – Howard Washburn
Washington State, Oregon, Montana, Idaho

Chapters in final stages of vetting will be announced in the coming weeks and include the states of – North Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Colorado, Nevada and Utah.

In June 2005, Alejandro Dominguez was assassinated just eight hours after being sworn in as police chief of Nuevo Laredo, the city just across the border from Laredo, Texas. Drug cartels are battling for these smuggling routes.

From the Associated Press:

Two Mexican police chiefs shot and killed

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- Two police chiefs were shot and killed within hours of each other in a violence-plagued region near the United States where drug smugglers have been battling for control of key routes across the border.

It wasn''t immediately clear if the killings Monday were related, but authorities say violence has spiked in Mexico''s northeast since the 2003 arrest of the area''s top reputed drug dealer set off the turf war.

Hector Ayala, chief of police in the wealthy town of San Pedro Garza Garcia outside Monterrey, was killed Monday when a car overtook his vehicle and opened fire.

Four hours earlier, Sabinas Hidalgo police chief Javier Garcia was abducted by armed assailants, bound and shot in the back of the head. His body was found alongside a highway outside the farming town of 30,000, about 50 miles north of Monterrey and 80 miles south of the U.S. border at Laredo, Texas.

~SNIP~

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SIMCOX CHALLENGES SENATE

MINUTEMEN URGE SENATE TO PLACE AMERICA’S NATIONAL SECURITY BEFORE INTERESTS OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS IN BORDER BILL DEBATE

(PHOENIX, AZ) February 15, 2006 – Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, issued the following statement challenging the Senate to place the national security interests of the American people ahead of Latin American countries that are sending a special delegation to Washington, D.C. next week to pressure the Senate against passage of the Sensenbrenner-King bill on border security and illegal immigration:

“The United States Senate has a sworn obligation to protect American citizens from foreign invasion. The Sensenbrenner-King bill passed by the House last year and up for consideration by the Senate next month is a good step in fulfilling that obligation. The Minutemen urge the Senate to pass that bill and resist the outrageous demands of the eleven Latin American countries for unsecured U.S. borders, amnesty and guest worker programs for their citizens who have broken our laws. Anyone proposing to enact amnesty/guest worker programs before the border is secured is endangering America.

“For decades, the United States has been the economic and political safety valve of these Latin American governments for millions of citizens that those governments are too inept and corrupt to provide a bright future. Being a compassionate nation, America has tolerated wave after wave of illegal immigration from those countries and others. However, in a post 9/11 world the status quo of open borders, rampant criminal activity and human slave trafficking can no longer be tolerated by any nation that wishes to survive.

“The campaign by the eleven Latin American governments against the Sensenbrenner-King bill shows a profound disrespect for the sovereignty of the American people. These foreign governments have promised to ‘use everything (they) have’ to prevent the Senate from passing the Sensenbrenner-King bill and securing our borders.

“The Minutemen are in favor of legal, well-regulated immigration that respects immigrants and protects them by upholding the rule of law. However, our primary concern is the national security of the United States.

“The eleven Latin American governments prefer to force their citizens on the United States rather than fulfill their obligations to them. They have condemned their people to nightmarish journeys where they risk rape, forced prostitution, robbery, murder and being abandoned by their smugglers to die horrible deaths in the desert in order to escape their countries and illegally enter the United States.

“While most illegal aliens simply seek work and a better life in America, criminal gangs like MS-13, narco-traffickers, human traffickers and potential terrorists are taking full advantage of our unsecured borders. American citizens living on the border, and increasingly in the interior, are paying the price with their lives, property and deteriorating communities. America’s law enforcement officers are being threatened and attacked on a daily basis by illegal aliens and foreign criminals as they seek to enforce our immigration laws.

“The Minutemen urge the Senate to put the safety and security of the American people first, and for those Latin American governments to do the same for their citizens. Those governments, and all governments, are put on notice that the Minutemen will act to protect our borders until the federal government finally secures the borders.”

PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND!

When: Monday, February 20, 2006
11:00am-12:30pm

Where: Valley Presbyterian Church
2800 South Camino Del Sol
Green Valley, Arizona

Directions: From I-19 and Continental Road - Take Continental west to the Frontage road, where you will turn left; to Camino Encanto, where you will turn right; to Camino Del Sol, where you will turn right again.

For more information, please contact Crystal at 602-222-4710 or crystal@friendsofmccain.com.

Why: Members of Congress appear almost weekly in their home district/state, but rarely publicize their schedules. These events can be a wonderful opportunity to speak with your Member of Congress and raise your immigration concerns with them directly.

The more Members hear from constituents who want lower immigration numbers while they are at home, the more likely they will be to vote the right way when they''re in Washington, D.C.

Talking point: What is your position on rewarding illegal aliens with jobs and residency?

Talking point: Would you support legislation to allow state and local law officers to enforce immigration crimes and allow local law enforcement to detain and process illegal aliens?

Talking point: Would you support legislation to stop giving citizenship to the children of illegal aliens?

Talking point: Will you support a Senate version af H.R. 4437 that will help all honest employers by requiring everybody to use the already-existing federal hiring verification system?

The judge has granted excluding border violence in the trial of two Border Patrol agents who shot a drug smuggler. In another revelation, the drug smuggler was GRANTED IMMUNITY for his testimony against the Border Patrol agents.

From today''s El Paso Times:

Judge says lawyers can''t bring up violence

Louie Gilot
El Paso Times
Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The jury in the case of the two Border Patrol agents who shot a man in the buttocks last year will get to hear about the victim''s alleged drug-smuggling activities but won''t get a picture of the border as a violent place for law enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone partly granted the motion by the U.S. attorney -- who is prosecuting the agents -- to exclude any mention of border violence, in particular the recent standoff in Hudspeth County. Lawyers will have to advise all witnesses of the prohibition. They will be able to ask the judge to allow mentions of border violence on a case-by-case basis, but they will have to approach the bench every time and speak out of earshot of the jury, according to the ruling issued Monday evening.

However, defense lawyers for agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos have a right to cross-examine the victim, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, about being an undocumented immigrant and an alleged drug smuggler "but only related to his immunity agreement with the government," according to court documents.

~SNIP~

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

This one from the "Believe It or Not" file. A CBS station in South Florida reports:

Farmworkers File Miami Suit Over FEMA Aid

Suit Claims FEMA denied them because of Immigration Status

FEMA won''t comment on lawsuit

(CBS4/AP) MIAMI A group of Florida farmworkers is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Federal Court over hurricane disaster aid. The lawsuit has been filed at the federal District Court in Miami.

The coalition is challenging the government''s refusal to help undocumented farmworkers affected by hurricanes with housing and other assistance, because of their immigration status.

The lawsuit says many farmworkers who were unable to receive help were forced to live in cars and other dangerous situations, while trailers intended for emergency housing were not used.

Most FEMA aid requires that recipients be legal residents of the United States, and all aid requires applicants to provide information undocumented immigrants might find difficult to provide, such as a valid social security number and tax information.

A spokeswoman for FEMA says she can''t comment on litigation.

Everyone in America should pay attention to which Senators meet with these folks lobbying against America''s sovereignty and national security.

From today''s Miami Herald:

11 countries plan to lobby against U.S. immigration law

Latin American foreign ministers have decided to increase their lobbying efforts against a U.S. immigration law that would build a wall on the Mexico-U.S. border.

BY SERGIO DE LEON
Associated Press

CARTAGENA, Colombia - Latin American diplomats teamed up Monday to lobby Washington against a tough immigration plan that would include a large wall along the Mexico-U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants.

Foreign ministers from 11 Latin American countries gathered in the seaside resort city of Cartagena, where they decided to send a scouting mission to Washington next week to identify key U.S. lawmakers on the immigration debate, Salvadoran Foreign Minister Francisco Lainez announced.

The region will urge those lawmakers in coming weeks to change or defeat altogether a bill making its way through the U.S. Congress that would make it harder for undocumented immigrants to get jobs and would authorize construction of a fence along parts of the 2,000-mile Mexico-U.S. border.

Carolina Barco, Colombia''s foreign minister, said immigrants'' contribution to U.S. development ``has been fundamental... but due to Sept. 11, the pendulum seems to have shifted in the opposite direction and migration is looked upon with a distrusting eye."

"The point we have made with clarity is that [the border wall] doesn''t seem to us to be the solution,'''' said Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez.

The countries meeting in Cartagena -- Mexico, Central American nations, Colombia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic -- met in January in Mexico City to discuss the same issue, demanding the United States to implement guest-worker programs and legalize undocumented migrants. At that meeting, they also condemned proposals for tougher border enforcement.

~SNIP~

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

Last week in Washington, D.C., Chris Simcox appeared for nearly an hour long interview on C-SPAN''s Washington Journal, taking questions from callers on the Republican, Democrat and Independent call-in lines. Only ONE of the callers did not support the Minutemen.

To view the interview, CLICK HERE!

It is an excellent interview.

The howls of outrage should commence tomorrow...

PHOENIX - The Arizona House voted Monday to require Gov. Janet Napolitano to follow through on her proposal to increase the number of National Guard troops who are helping crack down on illegal immigration at the state''s border with Mexico.

The lawmakers also agreed to provide $5 million in state money for the plan by the governor, who has asked the Pentagon to pick up the costs and said her ideas for using border troops would be impossible without complete federal funding.

Republican Rep. John Allen of Scottsdale said his state funding proposal would either let the Democratic governor carry out her plan - or force her to explain why she did not.

"She planted an idea that she knows the public supports, but she also did it to where she knew she wouldn''t have to do it," Allen said.

-- snip --

Public pressure is mounting for state politicians up for re-election this year to confront the problem, even though immigration has long been considered the sole province of the federal government.

Supporters of Allen''s proposal said the state needs to take action because Arizonans are frustrated with the federal government''s failure to adequately confront illegal immigration.

-- snip --

Democratic Rep. Pete Rios of Hayden, an opponent of the bill, said the federal government has chosen not to stop illegal immigration.

"Businesses and corporations on this side of the border are very powerful, and they need that labor in order to make the profits that they are making," Rios said. "That''s why this issue has not been resolved."

As we head full steam into an election year, the Arizona legislature and governor are both offering bills that would allocate personnel, equipment and funding to secure the borders and deal with the gang-related crime.

Ariz. weighs options for border patrol

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

PHOENIX -- As public frustration grows over the state''s porous border with Mexico, the once-rejected notion of using state police to supplement federal patrols is gaining traction.

One state lawmaker''s plan includes $20 million for the Arizona Department of Public Safety to run a 100-member squad to operate surveillance equipment, construct border barriers, target drug and immigrant smugglers and perhaps patrol the border.

"I''m not putting the handcuffs on. Whatever they need to do, they need to be doing," said Republican Rep. Russell Pearce, the plan''s sponsor.

Another proposal by Gov. Janet Napolitano would have two state police squads focus on immigrant smuggling cases. Both plans also offer millions of dollars to communities to tackle illegal immigration, and money for combating gang-related border crime.

To read the entire article, click the title link!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MINUTEMEN DEMAND INVESTIGATION, PROSECUTION OF EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGAL WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA

(PHOENIX, AZ) February 13, 2006 – The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps today demanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigate and prosecute businesses in the Philadelphia area for knowingly employing illegal workers.

The announcement by the Minutemen is being prompted by a work stoppage protest by illegal aliens in the Philadelphia area scheduled for tomorrow, February 14. Organizers of the protest are giving illegal aliens letters written in English to present to their employers to explain their absence that day as part of a campaign against passage by the U.S. Senate of the Sensenbrenner-King House bill on border security and illegal immigration.

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

“Because of the failure of the federal government to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws, employers of illegal aliens violate the law with impunity and have created incentives for millions of unknown people with unknown intent to enter our country illegally.

“Tomorrow’s protest in Philadelphia offers Immigration and Customs Enforcement an opportunity to enforce the law by investigating and prosecuting employers whose businesses are affected by the work stoppage by illegal workers. Copies of the letters from the illegal workers to their employers should be subpoenaed as potential evidence of illegal employment practices.

“It should be remembered that the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, were facilitated by the underground illegal alien community which enabled several of the terrorists to obtain drivers licenses illegally. More than four years after that terrible day, employers of illegal workers are putting their own greed ahead of the good of the nation. We urge the government to crackdown on these scofflaw employers in the name of national security.”

Incredulously, U.S. Attorneys in Texas who are trying two Border Patrol agents for shooting a drug smuggler claim that drug smugglers are not armed. From today''s El Paso Times:

U.S. doesn''t want border violence mentioned in trial

Louie Gilot
El Paso Times
Monday, February 13, 2006

Recent incidents of border violence echoed all the way to Washington, D.C., and Mexico City. Now the issue has seeped into at least one court case.

The prosecution in the case of two Border Patrol agents who allegedly shot an undocumented immigrant in the buttocks a year ago is seeking to exclude from the jury trial any mention of border violence, in particular the recent standoff in Hudspeth County.

The motion, filed by the U.S. Attorney''s office last week, asks the judge to instruct the defense not to mention during arguments or witness questioning "the alleged dangerous nature of the border."

~SNIP~

"It appears that there is an erroneous belief that individuals transporting illegal drugs across the border routinely carry guns. The actual facts refute this belief. Investigators for the government accumulated statistics that show that in the Fabens Border Patrol area, in one year period, not one arrested drug trafficker possessed a firearm," the motion read.

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