Civilian patrol makes some on border uneasy
Volunteers say they're defending U.S., but critics call the armed group vigilantes
By IOAN GRILLO
TOMBSTONE, ARIZ. - Traveling in RVs, trucks and private planes, hundreds of people — many wearing cowboy boots, hats and pistols — have descended on this historic town for what they claim is an operation to defend America.
Today, the volunteers of the Minuteman Project intend to take up positions along a 35-mile section of the Arizona-Mexico border and watch out for undocumented immigrants, drug traffickers or terrorists attempting to enter the United States.
They said they will notify agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service if they see any violators.
Project organizers said they are law-abiding citizens engaged in what they called America's largest ever neighborhood-watch plan.
But the Border Patrol did not welcome the volunteers, saying they are untrained vigilantes and that some may be members of extremist groups.
The civilians could become involved in firefights with drug or people smugglers or could accidentally wander across the U.S.-Mexico border and run into beefed-up contingents of Mexican security agents, said Andrea Zortman, spokeswoman for the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol.
"They know we don't want them out there," Zortman said. "They are going to make our job a lot harder."
Critics in Mexico
In Mexico City, government officials also criticized the volunteers.
"This serves as a cover for xenophobic and racist practices to justify the violation of others' rights," said Jose Luis Soberanes, the president of Mexico's Human Rights Commission.
Another official, Patricia Olamendi of Mexico's Foreign Ministry, told reporters, "How can a country that says it respects human rights and is against discrimination permit organizations dedicated to intimidating and threatening migrants?"
The Minuteman Project was set up by a Tombstone-based group called Civil Homeland Defense, which has been sending out citizen patrols to the border since 2003. Last fall, the group set up a Web site calling for volunteers from across the nation to join in what it said was a historic defense of the homeland.
The group said the operation is "a reminder to Americans that our nation was founded as a nation governed by the rule of law, not by the whims of mobs of illegal aliens who endlessly stream across U.S. borders."
More than 1,600 volunteers have signed up for the project via the Internet and more are showing up, said organizer Tom Dushane, 67, a retired sheriff's deputy.
Tombstone City Marshall Kenn Barrett, however, said law officers are anticipating between 500 and 1,000 volunteers assembling for registration today.
A camp in Tombstone
From a base camp in Tombstone — an Old West silver-mining town that was the scene of the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral — the volunteers will do eight-hour patrol shifts through the day and night along the border, said Dushane, who carried a Colt .45 pistol and wore a T-shirt proclaiming "Undocumented Border Patrol."
The volunteers will carry video cameras, binoculars, night goggles and pistols, he said, adding that they have been told not to carry rifles.
All volunteers had been vetted by a private investigator and a handful had been rejected, he said.
Most have military experience, he said, and the average age is about 40.
Dushane said the operation was designed to bring attention to the ease with which undocumented immigrants and others can enter the United States.
"Our government has to wake up to what is happening out there," Dushane said. "They can send soldiers to Iraq. How come they can't defend our borders?"
The 240-mile Tucson sector of the border, which goes through mountainous desert, is the most porous segment of the United States' 2,000-mile frontier with Mexico.
Last year, Border Patrol agents detained more than 490,000 undocumented migrants there, nearly half of the total apprehended along the entire border.
The Tucson sector is also one of the most violent areas on the border.
Since Oct. 1, there have been 130 assaults on Border Patrol agents, spokeswoman Zortman said.
Firearms were used in 14 incidents, she said.
Zortman said drug traffickers or people smugglers, who are known as "coyotes," may also shoot at the volunteers.
"If they are not scared to fire at government agents then they will have no qualms about firing at civilians," she said.
Mixed feelings
Residents of Tombstone, population 1,500, were mixed in their feelings about their visitors.
Peter Tiscia, manager of Tombstone Pawn gun store, said they were causing trouble.
"I pay my tax dollars for professional agents, not for these guys," Tiscia said. "I am worried some trigger-happy volunteer is going to start shooting."
However, Russ Shore, owner of the Tombstone RV Park, said the volunteers were welcome guests.
"The people are the government and they have the right to take action," Shore said. "If it's so easy for immigrants to come over the border, then terrorists could come across, too."
Shore said that many volunteers have parked at his trailer park and he had allowed them to put up placards with such messages as "Dangerous Border."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3112215
Volunteers say they're defending U.S., but critics call the armed group vigilantes
By IOAN GRILLO
TOMBSTONE, ARIZ. - Traveling in RVs, trucks and private planes, hundreds of people — many wearing cowboy boots, hats and pistols — have descended on this historic town for what they claim is an operation to defend America.
Today, the volunteers of the Minuteman Project intend to take up positions along a 35-mile section of the Arizona-Mexico border and watch out for undocumented immigrants, drug traffickers or terrorists attempting to enter the United States.
They said they will notify agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service if they see any violators.
Project organizers said they are law-abiding citizens engaged in what they called America's largest ever neighborhood-watch plan.
But the Border Patrol did not welcome the volunteers, saying they are untrained vigilantes and that some may be members of extremist groups.
The civilians could become involved in firefights with drug or people smugglers or could accidentally wander across the U.S.-Mexico border and run into beefed-up contingents of Mexican security agents, said Andrea Zortman, spokeswoman for the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol.
"They know we don't want them out there," Zortman said. "They are going to make our job a lot harder."
Critics in Mexico
In Mexico City, government officials also criticized the volunteers.
"This serves as a cover for xenophobic and racist practices to justify the violation of others' rights," said Jose Luis Soberanes, the president of Mexico's Human Rights Commission.
Another official, Patricia Olamendi of Mexico's Foreign Ministry, told reporters, "How can a country that says it respects human rights and is against discrimination permit organizations dedicated to intimidating and threatening migrants?"
The Minuteman Project was set up by a Tombstone-based group called Civil Homeland Defense, which has been sending out citizen patrols to the border since 2003. Last fall, the group set up a Web site calling for volunteers from across the nation to join in what it said was a historic defense of the homeland.
The group said the operation is "a reminder to Americans that our nation was founded as a nation governed by the rule of law, not by the whims of mobs of illegal aliens who endlessly stream across U.S. borders."
More than 1,600 volunteers have signed up for the project via the Internet and more are showing up, said organizer Tom Dushane, 67, a retired sheriff's deputy.
Tombstone City Marshall Kenn Barrett, however, said law officers are anticipating between 500 and 1,000 volunteers assembling for registration today.
A camp in Tombstone
From a base camp in Tombstone — an Old West silver-mining town that was the scene of the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral — the volunteers will do eight-hour patrol shifts through the day and night along the border, said Dushane, who carried a Colt .45 pistol and wore a T-shirt proclaiming "Undocumented Border Patrol."
The volunteers will carry video cameras, binoculars, night goggles and pistols, he said, adding that they have been told not to carry rifles.
All volunteers had been vetted by a private investigator and a handful had been rejected, he said.
Most have military experience, he said, and the average age is about 40.
Dushane said the operation was designed to bring attention to the ease with which undocumented immigrants and others can enter the United States.
"Our government has to wake up to what is happening out there," Dushane said. "They can send soldiers to Iraq. How come they can't defend our borders?"
The 240-mile Tucson sector of the border, which goes through mountainous desert, is the most porous segment of the United States' 2,000-mile frontier with Mexico.
Last year, Border Patrol agents detained more than 490,000 undocumented migrants there, nearly half of the total apprehended along the entire border.
The Tucson sector is also one of the most violent areas on the border.
Since Oct. 1, there have been 130 assaults on Border Patrol agents, spokeswoman Zortman said.
Firearms were used in 14 incidents, she said.
Zortman said drug traffickers or people smugglers, who are known as "coyotes," may also shoot at the volunteers.
"If they are not scared to fire at government agents then they will have no qualms about firing at civilians," she said.
Mixed feelings
Residents of Tombstone, population 1,500, were mixed in their feelings about their visitors.
Peter Tiscia, manager of Tombstone Pawn gun store, said they were causing trouble.
"I pay my tax dollars for professional agents, not for these guys," Tiscia said. "I am worried some trigger-happy volunteer is going to start shooting."
However, Russ Shore, owner of the Tombstone RV Park, said the volunteers were welcome guests.
"The people are the government and they have the right to take action," Shore said. "If it's so easy for immigrants to come over the border, then terrorists could come across, too."
Shore said that many volunteers have parked at his trailer park and he had allowed them to put up placards with such messages as "Dangerous Border."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3112215