Minutemen find signs of border-crossers
Locals estimate illegal entries at 30,000 per month
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Under the heavy branches of Arizona oaks, empty water bottles, ripped backpacks, underwear and tuna cans littered the rocky ground - evidence, Minuteman patrollers said, of illegal immigrants who have made their way through Three Canyons.
The rough terrain where border crossers wait for traffickers to pick them up and deliver them to safe houses is the private property of a cattle rancher in the Miracle Valley portion of Cochise County, where some of the 450 Minuteman Project volunteers are patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border.
Photo Gallery: Minuteman Rally
The volunteers, of all ages and from all places, began rolling into the area during the weekend. Their patrols started in earnest Monday.
Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist, clad in blue jeans and a pale blue Hawaiian shirt, walked with a patrol near a dry riverbed, where he spotted several footprints. He had slept only a few hours since patrolling the perimeter of the Miracle Valley Bible College property, where most of the Minutemen are quartered.
"Maybe it's illegals, maybe it's not," Aliso Viejo resident Gilchrist said as he surveyed the scene. "Let's check it out. The residents of this area have to live with this mess day in and day out. It's not easy for them."
In nearby San Pedro Valley, residents have become accustomed to the continuous traffic. Some estimate nearly 30,000 illegal immigrants cross monthly; they call them a thorn in the side of a community that has dealt with the problem for more than 40 years.
On Monday, civilian patrols split up all around the valley. Some walked long stretches of the 3-foot-high border fence that stretches for hundreds of miles.
Rancher Andy Couchoud said the illegal-crossing problem never seems to end. His property, near the college, is a crossing point for hundreds of illegal immigrants, he said.
Couchoud and his neighbors spend much of their time at John Waters' diner, the Palominas Trading Post, shooting the breeze about the border.
"Well, I guess you could say our problem breaks the monotony," chuckled Couchoud. "This part of the country has always been challenging to live in. People around here, well, we take care of each other."
On vinyl-covered chairs in Waters' antiquated diner, residents vented their frustrations. Most said they'd rather see the Minutemen than the undocumented crossers. And, if nothing else, the out-of-town patrollers have been good for business, Waters said.
"It's about time somebody did something, when all our government does is sit by and watch it happen," said Eric Nelson, Couchoud's friend. "If it's done nothing more than embarrass the government, then they've done their job."
Fewer people seem to have crossed since the Minutemen arrived, Nelson said, though he was sure they now simply were filtering through another porous area of the border.
Chris Simcox, a co-founder of the Minuteman Project, began the civilian patrols when he moved from California to Tombstone, Ariz., a few years ago. He was arrested in 2003 for carrying a concealed weapon into the Coronado National Forest in 2003 and lying about it to a federal officer; he received two years' probation.
Outside the Palominas Trading Post on Highway 92, Simcox prepared a handful of volunteers for patrol, directing them to keep away from "illegals" and to contact the Border Patrol if any were spotted.
"Eighty percent of Americans are demanding that our government do something about the border," Simcox said from the back of a pickup. "We decided to take this to the street."
On Saturday night, civilian patrols found five undocumented immigrants in a ditch after spotting a truck that dropped off five cheeseburgers in a McDonald's bag on the side of the road, Gilchrist said. The crossers were picked up by the Border Patrol, he said.
Simcox also noted that volunteers from the American Civil Liberties Union would be watching the patrollers closely. Nearly 30 young "legal observers" from the ACLU have been designated to silently watch the civilian patrols from a distance, documenting any possible violations of the law.
Even though some of the area's residents agree with Simcox, many don't, including people of Mexican heritage who worry a patrol volunteer might mistake them for an illegal immigrant and, worse, attack them.
"It worries me," said Tayde Trasvina, 18, who attends high school and works in Douglas, Ariz., a small town a few minutes from the border.
Trasvina, a U.S. citizen, lives with her family in Agua Prieta, Mexico, just across the border from Douglas. In Agua Prieta on Monday, the talk in local markets was mostly about the Minutemen on the other side.
"When people get angry, who knows what can happen?" Trasvina said. "The Minutemen are carrying weapons, and there's a lot of them."
Simcox's only response to Trasvina's concern was that the media had distorted the project's objective: to protest the government's lax attitude toward border security.
For the most part, Minuteman volunteers said they aren't interested in confrontation. Although they represent a variety of ideologies and backgrounds -- and have individual reasons for making their way to the desert -- nearly all agree on one thing: They can't understand why the Bush administration won't secure more money and resources for the border.
"Just because (illegal immigrants) can walk across the border, doesn't mean they have a right to be here," said Gerald Swisher of Monterey, as he prepared for the long Monday-night patrol ahead of him.
Based on rumors, some on patrol that day feared Mexican nationals would try to provoke violence at the border, Gilchrist said.
Those rumors were not substantiated, he added. But Gilchrist admitted to having people inside Mexico reporting information back to the Minutemen. He wouldn't say who or how many.
As the day of patrolling came to a close, many of the Minutemen returned to base camp or the diner to switch shifts.
The night patrol would take over soon, and the 40-mph winds would be making the canyons arguably more treacherous than any threat from across the border.
Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail sara.carter@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8552.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2800344,00.html
Locals estimate illegal entries at 30,000 per month
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Under the heavy branches of Arizona oaks, empty water bottles, ripped backpacks, underwear and tuna cans littered the rocky ground - evidence, Minuteman patrollers said, of illegal immigrants who have made their way through Three Canyons.
The rough terrain where border crossers wait for traffickers to pick them up and deliver them to safe houses is the private property of a cattle rancher in the Miracle Valley portion of Cochise County, where some of the 450 Minuteman Project volunteers are patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border.
Photo Gallery: Minuteman Rally
The volunteers, of all ages and from all places, began rolling into the area during the weekend. Their patrols started in earnest Monday.
Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist, clad in blue jeans and a pale blue Hawaiian shirt, walked with a patrol near a dry riverbed, where he spotted several footprints. He had slept only a few hours since patrolling the perimeter of the Miracle Valley Bible College property, where most of the Minutemen are quartered.
"Maybe it's illegals, maybe it's not," Aliso Viejo resident Gilchrist said as he surveyed the scene. "Let's check it out. The residents of this area have to live with this mess day in and day out. It's not easy for them."
In nearby San Pedro Valley, residents have become accustomed to the continuous traffic. Some estimate nearly 30,000 illegal immigrants cross monthly; they call them a thorn in the side of a community that has dealt with the problem for more than 40 years.
On Monday, civilian patrols split up all around the valley. Some walked long stretches of the 3-foot-high border fence that stretches for hundreds of miles.
Rancher Andy Couchoud said the illegal-crossing problem never seems to end. His property, near the college, is a crossing point for hundreds of illegal immigrants, he said.
Couchoud and his neighbors spend much of their time at John Waters' diner, the Palominas Trading Post, shooting the breeze about the border.
"Well, I guess you could say our problem breaks the monotony," chuckled Couchoud. "This part of the country has always been challenging to live in. People around here, well, we take care of each other."
On vinyl-covered chairs in Waters' antiquated diner, residents vented their frustrations. Most said they'd rather see the Minutemen than the undocumented crossers. And, if nothing else, the out-of-town patrollers have been good for business, Waters said.
"It's about time somebody did something, when all our government does is sit by and watch it happen," said Eric Nelson, Couchoud's friend. "If it's done nothing more than embarrass the government, then they've done their job."
Fewer people seem to have crossed since the Minutemen arrived, Nelson said, though he was sure they now simply were filtering through another porous area of the border.
Chris Simcox, a co-founder of the Minuteman Project, began the civilian patrols when he moved from California to Tombstone, Ariz., a few years ago. He was arrested in 2003 for carrying a concealed weapon into the Coronado National Forest in 2003 and lying about it to a federal officer; he received two years' probation.
Outside the Palominas Trading Post on Highway 92, Simcox prepared a handful of volunteers for patrol, directing them to keep away from "illegals" and to contact the Border Patrol if any were spotted.
"Eighty percent of Americans are demanding that our government do something about the border," Simcox said from the back of a pickup. "We decided to take this to the street."
On Saturday night, civilian patrols found five undocumented immigrants in a ditch after spotting a truck that dropped off five cheeseburgers in a McDonald's bag on the side of the road, Gilchrist said. The crossers were picked up by the Border Patrol, he said.
Simcox also noted that volunteers from the American Civil Liberties Union would be watching the patrollers closely. Nearly 30 young "legal observers" from the ACLU have been designated to silently watch the civilian patrols from a distance, documenting any possible violations of the law.
Even though some of the area's residents agree with Simcox, many don't, including people of Mexican heritage who worry a patrol volunteer might mistake them for an illegal immigrant and, worse, attack them.
"It worries me," said Tayde Trasvina, 18, who attends high school and works in Douglas, Ariz., a small town a few minutes from the border.
Trasvina, a U.S. citizen, lives with her family in Agua Prieta, Mexico, just across the border from Douglas. In Agua Prieta on Monday, the talk in local markets was mostly about the Minutemen on the other side.
"When people get angry, who knows what can happen?" Trasvina said. "The Minutemen are carrying weapons, and there's a lot of them."
Simcox's only response to Trasvina's concern was that the media had distorted the project's objective: to protest the government's lax attitude toward border security.
For the most part, Minuteman volunteers said they aren't interested in confrontation. Although they represent a variety of ideologies and backgrounds -- and have individual reasons for making their way to the desert -- nearly all agree on one thing: They can't understand why the Bush administration won't secure more money and resources for the border.
"Just because (illegal immigrants) can walk across the border, doesn't mean they have a right to be here," said Gerald Swisher of Monterey, as he prepared for the long Monday-night patrol ahead of him.
Based on rumors, some on patrol that day feared Mexican nationals would try to provoke violence at the border, Gilchrist said.
Those rumors were not substantiated, he added. But Gilchrist admitted to having people inside Mexico reporting information back to the Minutemen. He wouldn't say who or how many.
As the day of patrolling came to a close, many of the Minutemen returned to base camp or the diner to switch shifts.
The night patrol would take over soon, and the 40-mph winds would be making the canyons arguably more treacherous than any threat from across the border.
Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail sara.carter@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8552.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2800344,00.html