Senator Wants Border Volunteers Deputized

[Bonnie]

Sen.: Border volunteers should be deputies

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- A Republican senator said Wednesday the government should consider deputizing private citizens, like the Minuteman Patrol in Arizona, to help secure U.S. borders.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said the U.S. Border Patrol also should look to local law enforcement and state officials for help along the most porous parts of the U.S.-Mexico line.

"I wonder sometimes if maybe we're not looking too much to a federal solution," Allard told Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

"I happen to believe that those people down along the border that formed the Minutemen organization have some real concerns," Allard said.

Hundreds of civilian volunteers this month are monitoring a 23-mile stretch of the Arizona border. The volunteers, some of whom are armed, alert authorities when they spot people illegally crossing the border. The volunteers are not allowed to detain anyone.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1153&slug=Border Volunteers

 

[no1tovote4]

I like Wayne, he is a good guy. I also like my Congressman, Tom Tancredo, who has supported the Minutemen from the beginning.

Unfortunately the other Senator is Ken Salazaar, D. He beat out Coors for the seat.

 

[Bonnie]

I like Wayne, he is a good guy. I also like my Congressman, Tom Tancredo, who has supported the Minutemen from the beginning.

Unfortunately the other Senator is Ken Salazaar, D. He beat out Coors for the seat.

Wasn't that a close one though??

 

[nosarcasm]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...0421/ts_latimes/borderwatchgrouptostoppatrols

Border-Watch Group to Stop Patrols

Los Angeles Times


By David Kelly Times Staff Writer

DENVER — The Minuteman Project, which attracted international attention by putting armed civilians along the Arizona-Mexico border to deter illegal immigration, announced Wednesday that it was entering a new phase and would stop its patrol activities.

The roughly 750 volunteers, organizers said, would remain in the border area through April under the direction of Civil Homeland Defense, a Tombstone, Ariz., group similar to the Minuteman Project.

The project will focus on protesting businesses that employ illegal immigrants, pushing for immigration reform and organizing Minuteman branches nationwide.

Leaders Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox are scheduled to speak before the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus in Washington next week.

"Mr. Gilchrist helped develop the Minuteman Project, and he is taking it to Washington," said Gray Deacon, a spokesman for the group.

"But the Minutemen are not going anywhere. We are duty-bound to do what we promised, and we promised to stay through April. We have just as many stations, just as many volunteers, and none of us are laying down our lawn chairs and walking away."

Deacon said the group had been instrumental in the arrests of 283 illegal immigrants.

Gilchrist, a retired accountant from Aliso Viejo, Calif., said his goals had been accomplished sooner than expected.

"Because of the phenomenal success of this grass-roots project in such a short time, the Minuteman Project has declared an unconditional victory in its efforts," he said in an open letter to supporters Wednesday. "We have simultaneously brought national awareness to our national security crisis, of which porous borders and illegal alien and drug traffic are components. The Minuteman Project will take the next few months to reorganize, expand, and to become larger, better, stronger."

The patrols — which in addition to serving as a deterrent were intended to attract media attention and embarrass the Bush administration into doing more to police the nation's borders — began April 1. Volunteers came from across the country to sit along a 23-mile stretch of border from Douglas to Naco, Ariz. The area is the busiest crossing point for illegal immigrants in the country, with 500,000 arrests last year.

Using binoculars and two-way radios, participants who spotted migrants alerted the Border Patrol, whose leaders did not welcome the assistance. President Bush had called them vigilantes; human rights groups and some Arizona officials said they were racist and wrong-headed.

The Border Patrol said last week that illegal immigrant traffic where the Minutemen were stationed had dropped 50%. Andy Adame, spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, credited the presence of the Mexican army across the border with the decrease. Others said that, rather than forcing a decrease in immigrant traffic, the Minutemen probably had funneled people to less-guarded entry points.

Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo (news, bio, voting record) (R-Colo.), who backs strict border controls and met with the Minutemen recently, said he had asked organizers to end their mission early.

"I told them to pull the plug on it," he said. "They have drawn the attention of the American government, they got the attention of the Mexican government, and they have proven they aren't just a bunch of Bubbas."

Ray Borane, the mayor of Douglas, said the effort had been "very superficial and clearly insincere."

"It doesn't surprise me that they ended it," he said. "As soon as the media packed up and left, they left as well. All they accomplished was being a hindrance to the Border Patrol and creating international hard feelings. Their biggest accomplishment was getting the media's attention. It was, as the Mexicans say, all song and no opera."


I wish they would keep patroling to keep the public aware that
the government is letting them down.

 

[no1tovote4]

Wasn't that a close one though??

It was pretty close but a clear win for Salazaar. Coors didn't have a very good PR team on his side or I think he could have stomped Ken. However the R guy that normally runs campaigns for candidates in CO was working in SD against Tom Daschle.

 

[OCA]

NO WAY! That is all we need, redneck vigilantes with weapons.

 

[dilloduck]

NO WAY! That is all we need, redneck vigilantes with weapons.

Agreed---that's a recipe for disaster. If he wants to use them in HIS state and take the consequences he can go for it but he needs to get his eyes OFF Texas.

 

[no1tovote4]

Agreed---that's a recipe for disaster. If he wants to use them in HIS state and take the consequences he can go for it but he needs to get his eyes OFF Texas.

I would assume that there would be classes etc on the proper handling of the job. I think mostly he is talking about the fact that there is almost noone down there watching our asses.

 

[NATO AIR]

I thought Salazar was a pretty good guy?

 

[Bonnie]

Agreed---that's a recipe for disaster. If he wants to use them in HIS state and take the consequences he can go for it but he needs to get his eyes OFF Texas.

C-Mon Deputy Dillo....has a nice ring don't you think?? :teeth:

 

[5stringJeff]

C-Mon Deputy Dillo....has a nice ring don't you think?? :teeth:

Screw that... how about Deputy Jeff!

 

[Bonnie]

Screw that... how about Deputy Jeff!

Oaky Deputy Jeff

 

[no1tovote4]

I thought Salazar was a pretty good guy?

He ran as a Moderate, but we'll see. Sometimes time in D.C. and after they have been bought and paid for their voting record tells a different story.