Never has it been so critical for our mission and operations. I know you have heard from our President, Border Patrol Officials in Washington, and the media that the numbers of crossers are down, and our borders are secure, BUT they are WRONG! The saying goes that you have to see it to believe it, and that couldn't be truer.

As of this morning at 8:00 am Minutemen in Arizona have spotted 606 Illegal Aliens and Minutemen in AZ have assisted Border Patrol with 191 apprehensions of these Illegal Aliens.

And Remember that we are working 35 to 38 miles north of the border, and the National Guard is working south of us. These numbers don't lie! To observe this many Illegal Aliens in only 7 days is mind boggling. Our scouting reports are showing that almost every trail has new activity each day. We are manning as many of these trails on a daily basis, but cant cover them all. If ever there was a time to come down to the border and help, it is NOW. Just like in voting, every man counts. For every extra minuteman who volunteers this month, we can cover an extra trail, and hopefully prevent more illegals from reaching a town near you.

We have had great support from Border Patrol agents, who have been responding to our calls on a average of less than 10 minutes. This is a great improvement from musters past, where wait times exceeded 1 hour. The agents on the ground, tell us a different story from what you hear out of Washington as well. They tell us that they are overwhelmed, and undermanned. But these same agents, haven't given up. They come to our calls every day, and work very hard to track these groups down that we are spotting. Our hats are off to these hard working heroes on the front line of the invasion.

WE are using new tactics and new lines, and both seem to be paying off. Just last night I had the opportunity to go up in a 30 foot lift bucket with one of our thermal scopes. I was lucky enough to spot a group approaching our lines. The minutemen on the ground below me went into action, and when the group ran into one of our minutemen from New York they sat down on their own will, and gave up. Border Patrol showed up within a few minutes and apprehended all of them.

Again, if you have even one day to give, now is the time. We have shifts running thru the end of the month, and you can make a difference. We also need help in our comms center, so if you don't want to go out on the line, we will find a way for you to help.

If you have any questions, or want to volunteer to come down, call me or e-mail me anytime. But remember, every day you wait, that is another day they have to sneak thru.

Lance Altherr
Tucson Chapter Leader
520-481-3672
Tucsonmm@msn.com