So Vigilanteism is Back in Vogue >>>

This is very scary - shades of the old South.

This guy must be protecting the beer.






Earl Ray Schweitzer, a volunteer with the Minuteman Project from Orange County, California uses a spotting scope to look for potential illegal border crossers coming north from Mexico while he stands on the U.S. side of the border in Naco, Arizona, April 2, 2005. The Minuteman Project is attempting to bring attention to the problem of illegal immigration from Mexico by placing observation teams along a stretch of the border for the month of April to report any illegal crossers to the U.S. Border Patrol. The group, who according to organizers is 1,000 strong, is calling on President George W. Bush to increase the number of agents along the border to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. REUTERS/Fred Greaves

http: //story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050403/ids_photos_ts/r2907673670.jpg

Don't know what the point is - I remember getting in a debate on a Conservative Board in which they admitted they would like to drive along the boarder and shoot the people coming across. Apparently this is just to spot them, but well, I hope nothing happens.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

And they are carrying weapons because AZ has a carry law. They are not trained for this work, but think they can do the job.

does that make me Republican? A vigilante?

about cable TV (as have not watch mush lately as I am Poped out)

but like you I'm not sure because I too and poped out.

Geesh...how long can they keep this round the clock pope coverage going?

So beer is a good guess.

thinks they will be flooded with volunteers if people learn about it.

don't violate any laws. We need a snazzy name like minutemen. ;)

and bust the owners for not paying minimum wages.


I can dream, can't I?

....as long as they aren't harming or accosting anyone, if they are just spotting and then reporting to the authorities, I don't really have a problem with it. It's not like the authorities will actually do anything anyway.

Heyo

The ACLU has watchers with them to make sure they don't get violent.

dah--gets a bit confusing doesn't it.

He looks like the chimp with a beard!

certainly about the numbers. They held an event for the press, where they showed off what it was they proposed to do and how. There were more reporters there than "minutemen," and there was no reason to think that they had extra forces anywhere else who just didn't want to see their names in the paper.

But violence against "enemies" is definitely on their agenda. Did you see the story about Ann Coulter being heckled at one of her lectures, where she invited "the half-dozen largest Young Republicans" to police the crowd and eject hecklers?

these Rugs in the audiance that could eject this person. Yeah yeah, i probably got the wrong story. But it was a group of Rupugs that had invited her so she knew they were already in the audiance.

have not heard about this effort to confront them should they decide to sneak across the line?

The people South of the Border will wait, the gunslingers will grow weary of their fruitless harvest and they will go home to suck up another cool one at the local watering hole while telling all who listen of their daring do do do.

I bet

180

A bunch of jacked up Freepers, most of whom are retired or semi-retired, looking to recapture their "glory days" by spotting, and possibly shooting, illegal immigrants crossing the border, while the quite competent, and well supplied, Mexican Army is shadowing these nutcases across the border, within shooting distance.

I don't like illegal immigrants anymore than most people, but instead of forming vigilante groups and risking a border showdown with Mexico, it would be more effective to go after the employers who are employing illegal immigrants, and thus giving these desperately poor people incentive to cross the border. But damn, that would entail going after big business and the rich in this country with a vengance. Better to take pot shots at some poor soul trying to cross the border, after all, they can't fight back like the ruling elite in this country can.

immigration"?

I suspect it's the latter but I see the shortcut "I hate illegal immigrants" or similar too much around here. The people aren't the problem it's the situation you describe that foments the situation.

The poorest come across to make a better living and provide more for their families (which in the short form is 'The American Dream'), so I can't fault them for that. As you said though, there are jobs here that Americans WON'T do, for whatever reason. These low-paying labor intensive jobs are how the employers game the system, wages low enough to discourage Americans from taking the job yet high enough to draw a Mexican worker to immigrate illegally for the chance at a better life.

Businesses across the land are taking hits with fuel/energy costs and paying HUUGGGEEE CEO bonuses and to make sure they can still provide a "99 cent menu" they are trying to make it up at the bottom line through the blue-collar workers.

/rant

It is the idea of illegal immigration that I don't like. I have nothing against people coming here legally, we all are decendants of immigrants, so I can't slam somebody for wishing to come to the states. But I do think that there should be control of illegal crossings, and punishment for the corporations who provide incentives for illegals to come to the US.

Illegal immigration drives down wages for all of us, especially for Americans in the poor classes, and forces them to compete unfairly in the market place. I also find that illegal immigrants are put into too much danger on the job, since they have no legal way to complain about working conditions.

However, I have met many immigrants, illegal and otherwise, and liked all of them. We should loosen up immigration standards, and crack down on corporations and others who employ illegals.

Of course being here illegally is an incentive to not get in trouble but there is an inherent work ethic that is above and beyond any "scare factor".

:toast:

in regards to sealing the borders from people that would destroy our level of living. And the government refuses to uphold those laws because the corporations want the labor to dive to the bottom, then the only 'law' thats left is the people upholding the law.

Those weeping for the poor in Mexico would better spend their time worrying about the poor we have right here and voice their objections at the government and the corporations that make crossing the border so attractive.

Why not vent at the United Fruit Company for stealing the Central American governments and the land from the people. That is the reason for the extreme difference in wealth that draws the immigrants.

If it wasn't for the fat pricks running these corporations and their greed, there would be little need for people around the world to seek happiness someplace else.

When you grow up in Lexington Mass, you get a little persnickety about throwing around the name "Minutemen"..

mexican labor -- everything is cool.
:eyes:

Did their ancestors have passports when they came here?

:eyes:

Seriously, don't these people have lives, jobs???

Maybe San Diegans should form a vigilante group to watch the vigilantes. They get to do a citizen's arrest everytime a border crosser is harmed and there are laws in place for this.

This is beyond disgusting and very humorous in a perverse way.

Who's really paying them, hmm? :think:

right back to the usual suspects, starting with the Heritage Foundation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1367419

Border Patrol complains that volunteers are tripping sensors used to detect illegal crossers


By Arthur H. Rotstein
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12:15 p.m. April 4, 2005

TOMBSTONE, Ariz. – Volunteers who have converged on the Mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants are disrupting U.S. Border Patrol operations by unwittingly tripping sensors that alert agents to possible intruders, an agency spokesman complained Monday.

Scores of participants in the Minuteman Project began assembling late last week and planned to begin regular patrols on Monday, in an exercise some law enforcement authorities and civil rights groups fear will result in vigilante violence. Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet, and some planned to be armed.

Over the past few days, they have set off sensors, forcing agents to respond to false alarms, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda.

"Every sensor has to be addressed," Maheda said. "It's taken away from our normal operations."
(snip/...)

What do you think the "neighborhood watch groups" under the republican controlled version of "Homeland Security" are likely to morph into?

Check out "The Vigilance Committee" at dictionary.com, or at google.