The Arizona Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) and other MCDC Volunteers from all over the country are 32 miles from the Mexican border in a little town called Three Points, AZ (southwest of Tucson) during the April Border Watch operations. The illegal aliens have been walking 3+ days in the desert by the time they reached Three Points. Some illegals are so miserable that they surrender just to get a drink of water. The MCDC gives out lots of food and water contrary to the insulting statements made by the news media and President Bush about the organization. The MCDC also have a Search and Rescue (SAR) group that go far into the desert to rescue the people that are left behind by their "coyotes". The SAR of the MCDC saves many lives yet these are the same men and women that Bush calls vigilantes. The following pictures are from a "Lay-Up" in the Arizona desert. This is where the illegal aliens drop their gear in preparation to be picked up by cars a few miles to the north. I saw many items indicating that toddlers and small children were making the trip in addition to lots of women's underwear.

The time I spent with the MCDC was very informative. I knew that the porous border is a problem but I had concerns as to whether the MCDC was the right group to get involved with to do something about it. The men and women I met in AZ are all good, level headed and honest people. All of them would make good neighbors, most of them are senior citizens, and all of them are American patriots. The experience was not as dangerous as I thought but there was a real threat present: drug traffickers and gang members (MS-13). Altar Valley (or Cocaine Valley) has about 2 tons of drugs smuggled through it every day by human mules (of the total 4 tons that enter Arizona each day). And now that the coyotes are kidnapping other coyote's people and then holding them for ransom, the human smuggling has become more dangerous but mainly more dangerous for the illegal aliens.

The human traffickers have not been a threat to the Minutemen so far but apparently kill and rape a significant number of illegals attempting to make the trip. And any illegal that can not keep up with the coyote is left in the desert to die. Stragglers are usually women with small children or anyone unlucky enough to break a leg or sprain an ankle. The coyotes often rape the teenage girls that take the trip. The red panties hanging in the tree (called the Rape Tree) were allegedly left as a trophy high-lighting such an event (see picture below). Sad to think such things (as well as a healthy sex slave trade) are going on in our "Christian" nation. But that is just a little sample of the lawlessness that is occurring at our unregulated open border with Mexico.

The Rape Tree along the Bravo Line at King's Ranch, Three Points, AZ.

The drug traffickers have only shot Border Patrol agents and other illegals so far. The week before I arrived, two Mexican men were apprehended after they ambushed a pickup truck with 23 illegals aliens which has become an all too common occurrence in southern Arizona. Two illegal aliens died and one was wounded in the ambush. Three small children were sitting in the cab of the truck next to one of the men killed in the ambush. When the two men that carried out the ambush were captured and questioned by the Border Patrol they indicated that they were instructed to stop rival drug traffickers.

The drug traffickers carry automatic assault rifles and have snipers in the desert including more powerful military weapons like 50-cal machine guns mounted on military vehicles. Where do they get this kind of horsepower? ...From the Mexican military of course. But aren't these weapons only seen in the Mexican desert? ... no they are seen and used in Arizona, but typically by the Mexican military that are running interference for the drug traffickers. The young men and women of the Border Patrol are fearless. Once they see fresh foot prints headed down a trail they will single handedly jump out of their vehicle and go running down the trail (often by themselves, late at night, out in the middle of no where). If they are unlucky enough to meet up with drug traffickers, they are shot and left for dead. Typically they return with a group of 20 to 50+ illegal aliens.

Border Patrol on the MM CDC Bravo Line crossing the Altar Valley Wash.

My main point is to say that the MCDC is good honest patriots just trying to protect what is left of their homeland. These men and women have sat back for years and watched an invasion of illegal aliens (along with the drugs and crimes that come with them) destroy their homeland. They have finally decided to take a stand. All the while, the federal government has not only looked the other way but encouraged the problem. The week before I arrived in Arizona President Bush was in Mexico promising immigration reform to the Mexican people (which is an open invitation to the Mexicans people to enter our country illegally). The next week the President was in Yuma, Arizona claiming that the border is safe and that the open border problem has been solved. How could he be so blind? Many illegals are dieing in the desert attempting to come to America illegally. Border Patrol agents risked their lives daily in an attempt to stop the flood of illegals and drugs that are coming across our open borders. The Border Patrol is undermanned and overwhelmed. The border problem has not been solved and the border is not safe. This is the recklessness and lawlessness that results from a President that has continuously lied to America, has sold out the American people, and only caters to big business. President Bush is neither conservative nor compassionate!

Gary Armstrong
Chapter Director
Minuteman CDC of Roane County