Minuteman National Blog

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MINUTEMAN CO-FOUNDERS CHRIS SIMCOX & JIM GILCHRIST TO HAVE RARE JOINT APPEARANCE

When: 11 A.M. Sunday, October 16, 2005
Where: Field HQ, Minuteman Corps of California
Outdoor World Retreat
37133 Hwy 94
Boulevard, Ca 91905

TOMBSTONE, AZ (October 14, 2005) – Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project will have a rare joint appearance this Sunday, October 16, 2005, at the field headquarters for the Minuteman Corps of California in Boulevard, Ca. This appearance at the field headquarters will be the first time this location has been open to the media.

A trip to the ongoing border watch operation near Jacumba will follow the availability.

The two leaders of the Minuteman movement will speak about the success of the ongoing “Secure Our Borders” operation in 12 states on the northern and southern borders and the effect the Minutemen are having on government at all levels.

Simcox, 45, is president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. He is a former owner and publisher of The Tombstone Tumbleweed. He has a degree in Human Development and Early Childhood Education and spent 13 years as a teacher in Los Angeles. During his tenure as a teacher, Simcox chaired the Diversity committee at Wildwood Elementary School. Under the direction of Louise Derman-Sparks, Simcox studied anti-bias curriculum, a cultural and gender-sensitive approach to education.

Gilchrist, 56, is president of the Minuteman Project. He served in the Marine Corps during Vietnam where he earned a Purple Heart. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a CPA. He holds a B.A. in newspaper journalism, a B.S. in business administration and an M.B.A. in taxation. He is currently engaged in a run-off in the special election for the House of Representatives seat vacated by Chris Cox in California’s 48th District.

NOTE: The location of this media availability is on private property. Only press with valid credentials from legitimate news organizations will gain admittance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER FRIST COMMENDS MINUTEMEN BORDER WATCH EFFORTS; CALLS FOR BORDER SECURITY TO BE PRIORITY

MINUTEMEN URGE NATIONAL GUARD BE SENT TO SECURE BORDER

TOMBSTONE, AZ (October 14, 2005) – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, in an interview with The Washington Times after he took an aerial tour of the Texas-Mexico border with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, said he was “ … left with a very positive attitude about [the Minutemen] … ,” after asking about people’s impression of them on his border tour.

Dr. Frist, who did not meet with the Minutemen on his tour, added he had been told the Minutemen, “ … were filling a gap that needs to be filled … ,” on the border.

Dr. Frist also said that he will make both border security and interior immigration enforcement priorities in the Senate over immigration reform and guest worker proposals.

Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”) welcomed Dr. Frist’s priorities in the following statement:

“Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s statement making border security a priority in the Senate should be supported by all United States Senators and the Bush administration. Our national security has been put at great risk by the conditions at our borders. For far too long after the terror attacks of September 11th, the federal government has played
a game of chance with the security of the American people.

“Dr. Frist needs to go further, though. This country cannot wait for border security legislation to be passed ‘sometime next year.’ In addition to the terrorist threat, our fellow citizens are victimized daily by violent criminals, smugglers, gangs and drug cartels while immigrants seeking a better life risk death in the desert and barbaric exploitation by human traffickers. The crisis on the border needs to be addressed right now. The Senate and the House of Representatives should pass legislation, and override a veto if President Bush refuses to sign it, mandating the National Guard be placed at the borders immediately and remain there until the borders are secured and the Border Patrol and Immigration Control are sufficiently staffed and funded to keep them secure.

“With our borders having been compromised by over five million illegal crossings since September 11th, it is by the grace of God that we have not been attacked on the homeland again. But the Lord helps those who helps themselves, and America needs to help itself on the borders before we are attacked again.”

MCDC is conducting a month-long border watch program this October called “Secure Our Borders.” An estimated four thousand trained Minuteman volunteers will participate in non-confrontational border watch efforts on America's northern and southern borders. Minutemen act as extra eyes and ears for the Border Patrol and will report directly to authorities any sightings of border crossings at other than legal ports of entry.

I just returned from a week on the Mexican border with the New Mexico Minuteman Project. Based in Hachita, the New Mexico Minutemen, aided by volunteers from all over the country-- Washington state to Georgia, Alabama to Pennsylvania and Florida to California-- spend their time broiling by day and freezing by night trying to assist a Border Patrol whose leaders do not want their help. I led a three man recon team from Alabama but this is not about our story, it is about theirs.

Hachita was chosen by the Minutemen because it lies at the junction of Routes 9 and 81 and is the freeway interchange for most of the human and drug smuggling in New Mexico. The Border Patrol maintains a daylight crossing point at Antelope Wells further to the south on 81. Once across the border, this road leads to Mexican Route 2 and Chihuahua State. Route 2 more or less parallels the border as it swings through Little Nogales and Janos before ending at Ciudad Juarez, opposite El Paso. As far as New Mexico is concerned it is the lower nexus of the Ho Chi Minh trail, with all the traffic headed north this time.

The country here is one of savage beauty and frankly alien to this Alabama boy's eyes. Volcanic mountains jut starkly up from a plain that is already a mile above sea level. The Big Hatchet mountains tower some 8440 feet. It is a harsh land where contact with every bush can draw blood from the unwary and where some of the vegetation seems to have leapt from the drawing pad of Dr. Seuss. It is a land of rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, scorpions and tarantulas. The first day we were there, the ambient temperature on our Blazer's dash readout was 90 degrees. That night it got down to 45.

As far as volunteers go, the Minutemen weren't much to look at. Just average folks of the kind you might see at a ball game anywhere. The oldest fellow I met was a Navy radio operator in WWII, flying PBM patrol planes. Now this Georgian was back for one more war because his country needed him.

And it is a war, make no mistake. Most people who admit there is a "War on Drugs" shrink from applying the same terms to illegal immigration, but the two are indissolubly linked. The old Miami Vice model of huge shipments of dope hardly obtains anymore. The risks to the cartels of seizure are too great. Nowadays, they count on thousands upon thousands of lowly mules who filter across our border. Once they make their drops, they are free to continue on into the land of plenty. No, there is nothing benign about illegal immigration.

The locals, those who do not make a living profiting from this trade, live in a state of suspended fear. If they keep their heads down and their mouths shut, the contrabandistas will allow them to live. If they do not, their cattle turn up dead, their stock ponds poisoned, their houses and barns burned. Still there are the quietly courageous who support the Minutemen openly and dare the contrabandistas to do anything about it.

As for the volunteers, there is little to recommend Hachita as a vacation spot. On vigil by night, freezing despite thermal underwear, they fall exhausted into Korean War vintage tents for a couple hours sleep before the baking sun awakens them and they are forced to flee their cots. For those of us who slept on the concrete floor of the somewhat cooler Hachita Community Center, we had to share it with tarantulas and deadly scorpions, forcing us to check our bedrolls and boots morning and night.

Numbering only a few dozen, in the first five days we were only credited by the Border Patrol with 8 capture assists, a mere fraction of the traffic we knew from local knowledge was passing through here. For all of the misery the Minutemen suffered in accomplishing it, it seemed like a pitiful payback. A few grew discouraged and left. But as time went on we noticed something: none of our captures were occuring at night during our line operations, all had been chance encounters during the day. And we noticed something else: wherever we would set up, the Border Patrol would set up in front of us, and the Mexican Federales would set up in front of them on their side of the border. It was as if both governments were telling the contrabandistas "Minutemen here, do not cross." This impression was solidified in my mind on the last night line operation the Alabama team participated in. Just after dark, a Border Patrol vehicle came down the fence line with its brights on and highlighted our camouflaged position. Shortly thereafter, my assistant team leader with excellent Generation 3 night vision spotted an infrared strobe marking our position several hundred yards in advance of our line. All night long, on both sides of the border, the forces of the US and Mexican governments displayed flashing lights so that anyone would know not to come through there,

Frustrating? Yes. But then it began to dawn on some of us: we few dozen volunteers were forcing the governments of two nations (as well as the minions of the largest economic enterprise on the planet) to dance to OUR tune. With this knowledge, we began to tailor our operations to take advantage of that fact. And while I am back in Alabama, the Minutemen volunteers are still interdicting that part of the border, mindful of their new power to call the tune.

History, for good or ill, is made by determined minorities. Never was that truer than among that small band of New Mexico Minutemen. They were dirty, unshaven and exhausted on their best day. They didn't look like much more than a small convention of the homeless. But by their presence and their gritty determination they were calling the shots on the border. They were pitiful, they were magnificent. I am proud to have known them and to have served with them. And if we can find more of their kind, we just might be able to save the country.

Mike Vanderboegh
Alabama Minuteman Support Team
www.amist.us
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126
GeorgeMason1776@aol.com

The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York has an article today about the upcoming Secure Our Borders efforts by the New York Minutemen.

Give it a read and leave a message for the New York volunteers.

Sorry to get wonky on everybody, but here's where the rubber meets the road with securing our borders. In order for Congress to fix the situation, one thing they need to address is the abysmal 'catch and release' policy.

GovExec.com has an article about a report by the Congressional Research Service that studied the issue of expanding the federal government's authority to detain and expel without review illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria.

GovExec.com reports that currently the policy applies to illegal immigrants at ports of entry and those found within 100 miles of the Southwest border who cannot prove they have been here more than fourteen days.

GovExec.com also reports that the Homeland Security Department recently broadened the policy to all sectors on the Southwest and Northern borders.

The twenty-three page Congressional Research Service report can be read here (PDF file.)

As with any government program, there are pros and cons, bureaucracy and expenses, and concerns about civil rights.

Read the report and see what you think.

Bear in mind that if the federal government secured the border, most of this would be unnecessary.

Minuteman Corps of California (MCC) has had over 175 participants since October 1st, heavy on weekends, and much lighter during the weekdays. We have enough to man our line, but not as many as we would like. We aided Border Patrol in 6 confirmed apprehensions; with a report on another 6 outcome unknown.

Funny thing, I was driving to the line, running a little late when I spotted a group of 5 crossing a ranch and running toward Hwy 8, about 3 miles west of a Border Patrol checkpoint.

I put the call out on the radio & waited by the side of the road approximately. 1/2 mile from the location where they crossed they highway. I watched in my rearview mirror to see if they crossed the westbound lanes. Perhaps not wanting to scale the sheer cliff on the other side of the westbound lanes, they re-crossed the eastbound lanes just in time for Border Patrol to pull up and offer a lift.

Fox News was trailing behind me in traffic & saw the whole thing & mentioned it on air all day while they were on our line.

One more affirmation of the SOP.

The rumor about the Mexican National Guard planning to conduct exercises south of our position turned out to be just that: a rumor. About 30 to 40 protesters showed up on both sides of the border.

We kept everyone on our line sitting down under their shade tents or standing behind them. This effectively de-escalated a potentially violent situation. It was our intent to expose them as the aggressors to any and all cameras present, and it worked. This strategy in combination with the presence of Law Enforcement, defused a potentially volatile situation.

That same day, Jim Gilchrist came down, manned a post and brought supplies and lunch for all the minutemen on the line.

Chock up another point for the SOP.

Another incident occurred on Sunday, Oct 9th that was worthy of note. A small contingent of protesters showed up at about 2 PM including Gente Unida, Angels of the Desert, and some anarchists. What was particularly interesting was a blue pickup truck that drove slowly down our line with no license plate, flying the Confederate Flag from their aerial. The skinheads driving the truck tried to park close to the minutemen, but never succeeded in infiltrating our ranks. A few of the protesters pointed at the vehicle, saying, "see the minutemen are racists." It was a very pathetic attempt to smear us and it failed.

We are operating our day line in O'neill Valley, where we have been very effective at getting a little news out each day, albeit to local print reporters, but on Saturday, we did have Fox News on Saturday shooting live shots, and Canadian Television also came down.

The Minuteman Corps of California is staging out of a campground called OUTDOOR WORLD in Boulevard, CA. The owner, Dimitri, is a legal immigrant and a huge supporter of the Minutemen. He has 183 acres, and owns the access road off the main highway so the protesters cannot get anywhere near us. He has offered a special rate for Minutemen, and has given us the use of his conference center for training sessions.

We were treated to a full Italian dinner on two nights due to the culinary expertise of one of our leader's wives, who cooks from her heart. It was a wonderful way to unwind and get to know one another after a long day on the line.

Of particular note:

We have a minuteman in our midst who is famous in his own right. Dr. Johan Hultin, is a world-renowned pathologist, credited in 1949 with discovering a corpse as a young researcher in the Alaskan wilderness who died of the 1918 Spanish Flu (now recognized as avian flu). Almost 50 years later, he went back to retrieve the tissue sample used to recreate the deadly virus in order to develop a vaccine for the current version of the avian flu. This week he has been interviewed by dozens of reporters, and he has told every single one of them that he is a minuteman. We are proud to have him in our ranks.

Dr. Hultin was recently profiled in The Des Moines Register.

We also have a man named Greg Sheehan, who flew out all the way from Altoona, Pennsylvannia to join our border watch. He carries with him a heavy burden: telling the horrific tale of a triple homicide to all who will listen. Greg is a soft-spoken minuteman who is as humble as he is tall. Here is his story:

In late August of this year "Miguel Padilla, the alleged killer, attacked Alfred Mignogna, a local businessman, Fred Rickabaugh, a worker at the veterans club, and Stephen Heiss, a Marine veteran, and killed them in cold blood. Stephen had just returned home from serving in Iraq and jumped in front of his fiancée taking the bullet that otherwise would have ended her life and instead took his. It is terrible enough when a murder occurs, but to have it happen by someone who should not have been here adds to the despair.

Padilla had been living in the US illegally for fifteen years, had a driver's license, a registered car, graduated from Penn-Cambria High School and has been arrested twice before for assault with a knife and illegal possession of a gun.

"This is an example that happens far too often in our country. When police had Padilla in custody during these arrests they contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE did nothing and they have no answers to this day. Three murders could have been prevented. It is outrageous for Padilla to go unnoticed in our country for that long, especially with prior arrests. It is hard enough to find illegal aliens, but when they are handed over to federal authorities action needs to be taken" this according to Congressman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania.

Greg Sheehan needed to do something. He had heard of the Minutemen a year earlier and joined their April watch in Arizona. This week Sheehan and a local CBS television crew travel to East San Diego County to help secure a portion of America's borders hoping to prevent another Padilla from entering illegally.

"Greg is but one of thousands of volunteers nationwide that have been personally touched this national crisis. Having thousands of unknown individuals enter our country each day is an unacceptable risk after 9/11," said Tim Donnelly, Leader of the Minuteman Corps of California.

We can always use a few more good men and women. Please register at http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/ or call us at 619-407-7073.

Godspeed.

Tim Donnelly Leader, Minuteman Corps of California

Minuteman Civil Defense Corp - Incident Report

Area: Falfurrias Texas
Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Location: Line 3 – Post 9

At 21:30 a Minuteman volunteer, using Generation III Night Vision (GEN-III NV) was scanning for activity to the SE while three other Minutemen were scanning South at a suspected entry area. Light activity was spotted by the Minuteman around a tree approximately 500 yards SE (145°) of his post via the GEN-III NV at 21:35 and later at 21:40. The Minuteman radioed the nearest post on his Line 3 at Post 4 to inquire if anyone at Post 4 had seen the light and checked if they were using Infrared (IR) Illumination towards that tree. Neither was the case so the Minuteman volunteer asked Post 4 to watch to their South for the light.

The Minuteman then asked two others to monitor that same tree to the SE and one of the others also saw the lights with a GEN-I NV. It was at that time one of the others was able to see the light without NV and then we knew it was a visible flash light rather than an IR source used with NV. While GEN-III NV was handed back and forth between two of the Minutemen, both noticed two individuals moving from the tree with the light activity onto a freshly mowed sunflower field that the landowner had shredded just before sunset that day. The Minutemen counted four (4) individuals moving towards them at a distance of around 300-400 yards at 22:00. The image was clear enough to see them walking upright and one Minuteman could see the spaces between their legs as they walked.

It was at this point the Minuteman walked back up the hill for better radio reception and called Post 4 at 22:10 to help him relay the message to Base that we have spotted and confirmed 4 individuals moving from the SE towards our Post 9. The Minuteman was informed that Border Control (BP) was on the way. He kept in radio communication with the other Minuteman back at Post 9 observation location who was constantly monitoring and counting the individuals. As the first BP officer showed up with lights out at 22:15, the Minuteman met the officer, quickly introduced himself as a MCDC Minuteman volunteer and gave the officer a count of individuals, their heading of SE (145°) and their distance of approximately 300 yards. BP officer then walked directly to the specified location of the individuals and Minuteman rejoined the other two Minutemen back at the Post 9 observation point.

One of the Post 9 Minutemen informed the others that the individual count had grown to 6 and that they were starting to hide in the uncut section of the field and along small groups of trees. They then observed with the GEN-III NV the BP officer walking to the North of the hidden group missing them by only 100 yards. The Minuteman then saw that the BP office was using only a lower level GEN-II or even GEN-I NV since he was using IR illumination that projected less then 25 yards.

This is when the Minutemen realized that the BP officer would not be able to see the hidden group and we could not radio him to direct him to their hidden locations since we do not have common radio communications with the BP.

Then at around 22:20 a second BP officer (BP#2) arrived back at the road, the Minuteman met him and this time brought him directly back to our Post 9 observation point. They then pointed out the individual’s hidden location and handed BP#2 our GEN-III NV for him to see them.

BP#2 said, “WOW! You can see everything with this! This is incredible!” The Minutemen were surprised to hear this and it became obvious that at least these BP officers do not have access to GEN-III NV to do their dangerous and critical jobs which is an abomination.

BP#2 then headed out directly to their hidden location and again walked right past them. After BP#2 had walked 200 yards a Minuteman saw an individual crawl from left of the mowed field to the right brush less then 100 yards BEHIND the BP#2 officer. Then a Minuteman observed another running in a swatch again behind the BP#2 from right to left. The Minuteman went back up the hill to radio Base and Post 4 to inform BP headquarters to radio the BP#2 officer that the individuals are passing and crawling behind him.

BP#1 officer gave up his search around 22:35, telling us he found nothing, and then left. BP#2 drove around with the spot light searching the fields but not one was found. BP#2 then came back by our position informing us he never saw a thing, but told us if we see then again to call and they will return. BP#2 said he had another call to attend to so we thanked him for his service to our country and he left around 22:45.

For the next hour from 23:00 to 00:00 the Minutemen noticed at least one individual hiding near the brush and then migrating back to the SE. At around 2AM two Minutemen saw flashlight activity again well over 1000 yards away near trees to the SE (150°). It is thought that the scatter group retreated to the SE and regrouped at the farther tree to wait us out for another attempt to migrate North.

We radioed Post 4 to watch for them to their South. The operation ended at 02:30 so we packed up and went back to base.

What We Learned:

Next time we have a sighting with GEN-III NV and the BP show up stealth, we need to bring the BP officer FIRST to our observation point and hand them our high performance NV device. This will enable the BP to actually see what we are seeing and exactly where we are seeing it. Then the BP will really believe we are observing actual migrant activity, have an accurate headcount, location, and landscape reference point to proceed with apprehension.

We could even go farther by temporary loaning him the equipment after noting his name and/or BP badge number so he can use it for the capture.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MINUTEMEN SUPPORT TEXAS GOVERNOR PERRY’S CALL FOR BORDER TO BE DESIGNATED
HIGH-THREAT AREA

TOMBSTONE, AZ (October12, 2005) Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”) today expressed his support and appreciation of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s call for the federal government to designate the border a high threat area, and encouragement for his border security plan announced earlier today.

With this proposal, Gov. Perry demonstrates the seriousness of mind that has been lacking in our nation’s capital by leaders of both parties with regard to the national security issues and human rights violations at the border.

Simcox issued the following statement in response to the Governor’s announcement:

“Gov. Perry’s plan should serve as a wake up call to President Bush from his fellow Texas Republican. It is a disgrace that four years after the terror attacks of September 11th our borders are wide open to anyone who wishes to do our country great harm.

“As a result of actions by Minuteman citizen volunteers, governments at the state and federal level have been forced to acknowledge the crisis on our border. We agree with Gov. Perry’s statement that, ‘… the State of Texas cannot wait for the federal government to implement needed border security measures.’

“New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, having declared states of emergencies on their respective borders but failing to follow up with effective action, would do well to emulate Gov. Perry’s plan.

“As heartened as we are by Gov. Perry’s proposal, it will take time to implement and will fall short if the federal government continues to fail to do its job. The Minutemen will continue to serve on the border until such time as the border is secure.”

MCDC is conducting a month-long border watch program this October called “Secure Our Borders.” An estimated four thousand trained Minuteman volunteers will participate in non-confrontational border watch efforts on America's northern and southern borders. Minutemen act as extra eyes and ears for the Border Patrol and will report directly to authorities any sightings of border crossings at other than legal ports of entry.

To read Gov. Perry’s proposal, please visit his website: http://www.governor.state.tx.gov

For more information, please visit our website: http://www.MinutemanHQ.com

Being that this was posted as an open letter to the Minutemen, we're sure they won't mind us posting their statement in its entirety.

Anti-Immigrant Minutemen are Unwelcome in Vermont

An open letter to the Minutemen organization from the Second Vermont Republic and the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective. The Minutemen are a right-wing, anti-immigrant organization based outside of Vermont. They Currently plan on "patrolling" our northern boarder of Vermont at Derby Line on October 15th. We, the people of Vermont and allies, will be there to make sure they know they are not welcome.

On October 15th, come join people from across Vermont and beyond to to make sure your voice is heard! We will meet at the Town Common at 12 noon and will be prepared to stay till dusk.

For more information contact the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective at: greencollective@chek.com

October 12th, 2005

"I am a hardy mountaineer and scorn to be intimidated by threats."
-Ethan Allen

Minutemen,

Let it be known that you are not welcome in the Green Mountains of Vermont. You
are outsiders and you have not been invited. We have no interests in granting
authority to outsiders over the regulation of our northern lands!

Vermont’s northern boarder has a long history of openness and flux. Today, tens of thousands of Vermonters, especially in the north, trace their roots to ancestors who called themselves Quebecois and Abenaki. Those that decided to stay and make the Green Mountains their home decided to do so in the spirit of justice, fair mindedness and freedom. Exemplary of this sentiment was the establishment and maintenance of the Underground Railroad. Vermonters decided how to manage their border without allowing those with no ties to this land to alter our perceptions of how our land is to be used.

We Vermonters, who believe in our right to determine the policies and actions that will be pursued on our land, resent the encroachment on and usurpation of our democratic power by an overbearing federal government in their growing manipulation of its laws over our citizens, ie. checkpoints, not at international boarders but within our state. We same Vermonters recognize you, the Minutemen, as foot soldiers of the far right. We recognize your alliance with neo-nazi organizations such as the National Alliance and we will do what is necessary to uphold our long held view that Vermonters know what is best for Vermont and we do not accept the inclusion of your radical anti-immigrant ideology rooted in your racist world view in our Green Mountains. We the Vermonter; the Quebecois, the Abenaki and the sons and daughters of Ethan Allen, birthed in the spirit of self-determination, direct democracy, and self-governance have determined: We don’t want you and your ilk in our mountains.

Joint Statement of
Thomas H. Nylor, Founder of The Second Vermont Republic
and The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective, NEFAC

The Second Vermont Republic
P.O. Box 1093
Montpelier, VT 05601
info@vermontrepublic.org

The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective
GMAC
PO Box 76
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
Email: greencollective@chek.com

Once more, we're not racists. We have nothing to do with neo-nazis or any other racist groups. But it suits the agenda of the radical left to lie about those who oppose their whackjob politics.

The anarchist-communists are free to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights and demonstrate to the public their support of an ideology that murdered over 100 million people in the 20th Century.

We'll be standing up for the country that liberated hundreds of millions of people while we work to keep it secure by highlighting the need for heightened security on our borders.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx) was reported by KFOX-TV in El Paso as saying the following:

"Security is important, but I believe no matter what the good intentions may be of civilian volunteers that this is not a job for volunteers. This is a job for trained professionals and that's why I have proposed that we increase the number of Border Patrol and trained professionals to help with border security."

We agree, Sen. Cornyn. When the federal government secures the border, the Minutemen will stand down. Until then, we'll be on the border doing what Congress and the President have failed to do so far.