Civilians to 'assist' in patrol of border
Foes fear effort will fan tension
Susan Carroll
Republic Tucson Bureau
Jan. 24, 2005 12:00 AM
More than 200 volunteers from across the country have signed up for the "Minutemen Project," a civilian border patrol that plans to converge in southeastern Arizona this spring for a monthlong mission to help the U.S. Border Patrol, organizers said.
A Web site recruiting volunteers features Uncle Sam pointing a finger and reads: "The U.S. Wants You! Are YOU interested in spending up to 30 days along the Arizona border as part of a blocking force against entry into the U.S. by illegal aliens?"
The volunteer response has been overwhelming, organizer Jim Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist, a retired accountant who lives in California, said the group's 234 members plan to meet in Cochise County in April to conduct round-the-clock patrols in the San Pedro Valley, a popular smuggling corridor. The project's goal is "to assist the U.S. Border Patrol, not interfere with them, not take the law into our own hands."
"This is about coming together to send that message to Washington that this is our country, too," Gilchrist said. "This is not an Arizona issue. It is an issue of a United States of America."
Border Patrol officials are not enthused by the project. And immigrant advocates say the group's efforts will only stoke tensions in Cochise County, which has a reputation for vigilante violence dating back decades.
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, is monitoring the "Minutemen Project" closely after seeing "a lot of interest" in the project on neo-Nazi Web sites, said Hedi Beirich, center deputy director.
"We have lots of concerns that National Alliance members and other neo-Nazis are going to show up to participate," Beirich said.
History of violence
Cochise County, home to Tombstone and formerly Pancho Villa country, has a long history of allegations of vigilante violence dating to an infamous case in summer 1976.
Rancher George Hanigan and his two sons were accused of hogtying and torturing a group of Mexican men, burning the soles of their feet and shooting them in the back with buckshot. The elder Hanigan died before trial. A Cochise County jury found the two sons not guilty.
For the next two decades, there were periodic reports of violence against migrants, but the situation got much worse in the 1990s as illegal-immigrant traffic through the county swelled.
Rancher Roger Barnett and his brother started detaining undocumented immigrants on their sprawling, 22,000-acre ranch property. The detentions, and allegations of violence, have prompted four lawsuits by civil rights organizations.
The problem peaked in 2000, when Cochise County residents complained that they were being overrun. Last year, roughly one out of five of the more than 1 million undocumented immigrants arrested trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border crossed through Cochise County, population 120,000, according to the 2000 census.
The outcry by local residents and ranchers attracted anti-illegal immigration activists, mainly from California and Texas. Organizers for the American Border Patrol say members only observe and publicize what's happening on the border through Web sites, twice pretending to smuggle a "weapon of mass destruction" over the border. ??
A group called Ranch Rescue staged operations in Cochise County, but recently had problems with U.S. Border Patrol and FBI agents, ending with the arrest of one member on gun charges and the shooting of another member, who survived.
Border Patrol's stance
The Minutemen group is associated with an organization called Civil Homeland Defense, established by Chris Simcox, a 44-year-old retired kindergarten teacher who moved to southern Arizona from California. Simcox, whose civilian volunteer patrol has "peacefully" turned in more than 3,900 undocumented immigrants during the past 2?1/2 years, said he welcomed the help after being approached by Gilchrist.
"We're going to be holding our president accountable," Simcox said. "If he doesn't do something, he's going to face more and more people rolling up their sleeves and coming down here."
The members plan to meet at an undisclosed location in Cochise County on April 1 for an orientation session. The group will set up a "communications center" on private land with sophisticated equipment and five staff members. Organizers said landowners along the border have offered to let volunteers camp and park RVs.
Gilchrist said he is screening applicants by requiring they provide resumes and making sure they are not associated with "fringe groups." He said the volunteers are a "well-educated bunch," including Ph.D., a lawyer, politicians and former law enforcement and retired military members.
The members are from 36 states, including 77 from Arizona. He added that some volunteers plan to bring their children.
David Heppler, a 27-year-old Phoenix native, said he signed up for the project and plans to spend a few weekends in April on the border. He had been down to Cochise County before, he said, to help out Simcox and said he thinks the Border Patrol appreciates the efforts.
"The Border Patrol seems to be real happy," Heppler said. "They're strapped for resources. They can't be out there in every spot. I think they need some help."
But Border Patrol officials said that is not the case.
"We see them (Minutemen) like we do all these other civilian patrol groups," Tucson sector spokesman Andy Adame said.
"We don't endorse them or support their actions, especially when they take the law into their own hands," Adame said. "We feel there is too much risk involved when you ask the public to get involved in apprehensions. It could result in somebody getting hurt."
Organizers said there are strict rules for how members can and cannot treat migrants, adding that there is a "no contact" policy.
"They should only talk to immigrants to ask if they need water, food or medical attention," Gilchrist said. "They are not to block them in any way. They are not to threaten or approach in a threatening manner."
Also on the list of no-nos:
"No rifles. No long-guns," Gilchrist said. Side arms are OK.) No camouflage during trips into town. And, he said, "Swastikas are not welcome."
Group has critics
Gilchrist, 56, said the problem with illegal immigration came to his attention in the early 1990s when he tried to get his aging mother a federal rental subsidy in San Bernardino County, Calif.
"They told me the $200-something-million was gone. They said, 'We have so many illegal aliens coming in here, as well as poor American citizens.' "
Gilchrist said he asked: "What about my mother?
"I had to put her in a nursing home," he said. "And two days later she had a heart attack and died. I never forgot that part. It's not like I'm out to get somebody for that, but that's . . . when it dawned on me that, gee, what's going on in this country? I thought this was the United States of America for U.S. citizens. But I realized slowly that it wasn't. It was for whoever got here by whatever means necessary whether they were legal or not."
Ray Ybarra, a Douglas native and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the group's actions seem to stem from fear of assimilation.
"It seems like they're just really afraid of the change that's inevitable, that's happening around them, and they're trying to act out on the frustrations by coming out here and engaging in illegal activities," he said.
Gilchrist takes offense at anyone who calls his organization a "militia" or questions the group's motives.
"How can somebody call us that?" he asked. "They have to judge us by our actions and see."
Ray Borane, the mayor of Douglas, a border town in Cochise County, said he could do without the Minutemen.
"If they really want to serve their country, the ones who are young enough to join the Army or the Peace Corps should do that, and the ones who are too old for that . . . should stay home and write letters to their congressmen," Borane said. "They're not going to do any good here. They get in the way."
