ACLU monitors the rights of Illegals
The Minutemen have made it clear
on their website and in statements that they "will not
violate anyone's civil rights.
March 2005 - The main mission of The Minuteman Project is to bring national attention to
the fact that the U. S. Federal Government is not fulfilling its mission to protect
American citizens from the economic and physical danger of porous borders. The majority of
peace loving Americans are concerned about the massive amounts of unscreened, undocumented
aliens walking right into our country. Another fear that lurks in the dark corners of our
minds is another 9-11 attack, or worse, a suit case bomb. Minutemen Patriots
Instead of coming to the defense of the Minutemen who are challenging our government, the
ACLU has warned the 1,000 volunteers that it will send monitors to document the Americans'
activities. Moreover, the ACLU has already threatened lawsuits against
the American dissenters for exercising their rights.
This bullying of pro-immigration enforcement activists comes as no surprise to those of us
who have followed the ACLU's aggressive open-borders agenda -- from its support for
driver's licenses for illegal aliens, to its opposition to detaining illegal alien terror
suspects after 9/11 and profiling foreign visitors from terror-friendly countries, to its
efforts to stop local and state law enforcement officers from helping federal homeland
security efforts.
ACLU of Arizona spokesman Ray Ybarra argues that the mere presence of the Minutemen at the
border constitutes "unlawful imprisonment" of illegal (excuse me,
"undocumented") aliens (excuse me, "migrants"). Ybarra told the Washington
Times that the ACLU will have lawyers on standby ready to file civil cases against the volunteers. He warned that the
Minutemen could "come to our state as 'vigilantes' and end up leaving as
'defendants.' ACLU to keep tabs on protest, by
Jerry Seper
The Minutemen have made it clear on their website and in repeated statements that they "will not
violate anyone's civil rights, and will not abuse anyone from any country. . . . We will
alert border patrol to the location of illegals, and wait for [the Border Patrol] to come
and pick them up. We will follow illegal aliens from a distance and continue spotting them
until authorities answer our cell phone and/or back-pack radio calls. All spotting, calls
for assistance, and the response from the appropriate authorities will be chronicled and
provided to any media representative."
Contrary to the ACLU and mainstream media representations of the group as racists and
immigrant-bashers, the Minutemen are a diverse volunteer group that includes Americans of
Mexican, Armenian, Russian, Lebanese, Indian and Cuban descent; and black and Native
American minorities. Also among the volunteers are 19 legal immigrants from Mexico, Peru,
Russia, New Zealand, England, Australia and the Philippines.
By recklessly linking the Minutemen to white separatists and casting them as outlaws, the
civil liberties crowd engages in the very guilt-by-association smear tactics it has so
loudly condemned. And in putting the protection of illegal aliens' rights over law-abiding
Americans' civil liberties, the ACLU demonstrates on which side of the border its true
allegiances lie.
The Mexican government has asked U.S.
officials to ensure illegal-immigration protesters patrolling the Arizona border next
month do not abuse Mexican nationals caught illegally entering the United States.
In a diplomatic note to U.S. officials, Geronimo Gutierrez, undersecretary for North
American affairs at Mexico's Foreign Ministry, suggested it was "very probable"
the protesters could violate the rights of illegal aliens, and that they must be
monitored. "What there is concern about is that some of these actions that could be
taken could be in violation of federal and state laws to the detriment of Mexican
citizens," Mr. Gutierrez said. "Mexico doesn't want the rights of its citizens
transgressed, especially if those actions are in violation of federal and state
laws."
Earlier this year, Mr. Gutierrez was involved in the distribution of about 1.5 million
comic-book guides that warned Mexican nationals about the dangers of crossing illegally
into the United States and offered tips on how to stay safe. It was published by Mexico's
Foreign Relations Department.
The volunteers will spend 30 days on the Arizona-Mexico border beginning April 1 as part
of what has been called the "Minuteman Project." The protest is aimed at
highlighting what the volunteers call the United States' failure at immigration
enforcement.
James Gilchrist, a project organizer, said the volunteers would be posted along the border
to observe illegal aliens coming into this country and report them to the U.S. Border
Patrol. He said none of the volunteers, some of whom will be armed, will attempt to
confront the aliens, and those who do will be sent home.
"Currently, about 5,000 'unapprehended' illegal aliens trespass the Arizona-Mexico
border daily, and another 5,000 invade the United States from the Texas, California and
New Mexico borders. That's 10,000 a day ... over 3 million a year," said Mr.
Gilchrist.
The event "will tune the American people into the shameful fact that 21st century
minutemen/women have to help secure U.S. borders because the U.S. government refuses to
provide our dutiful Border Patrol with the manpower and funding required to do so,"
said Mr. Gilchrist, a retired certified public accountant in California.
The list of volunteers has more than tripled and includes representatives from every
state, including 10 from Virginia and two from Maryland.
Focusing on a 20-mile stretch of border lowlands in the San Pedro River Valley, near Naco,
Ariz., 90 miles southeast of Tucson, the volunteers will be assigned to ground observation
posts, aerial surveillance from 16 aircraft and a communications center to report illegal
aliens crossing into the country. The targeted area has become a high-traffic corridor for
illegal aliens because it has water, level ground, places to camp and wood to burn.
"Volunteers of the Minuteman Project will assemble under the First Amendment and
protest their disappointment with federal, state and local political representatives who
have deliberately neglected and avoided the enforcement of immigration laws," Mr.
Gilchrist said. "If the United States is to be heralded as a nation ruled by law,
then it must actually enforce its laws. "Anything less would relegate this great
nation to dictator or mob rule ... something the Founding Fathers ingeniously sought to
prevent," he said.
More than 1.15 million illegal aliens were apprehended last year by the Border Patrol
while attempting to enter the United States. Nearly 40 percent of them were detained in
southern Arizona along a 260-mile stretch of border known as the Tucson sector.
Federal and state law-enforcement authorities have expressed concern over the safety of
the volunteers, many of whom will camp out along the border. Tucson Sector Border Patrol
Chief Michael Nicely has said the agency is "always concerned about civilians who put
themselves in danger," adding that alien and drug smugglers who use the area to bring
their illicit cargo into the United States have not hesitated to assault his agents.
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, whose jurisdiction includes the targeted area, also
has warned of violence and has told those participating in the blockade to obey the law.
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