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Minutemen may patrol Texas border in October
Edward Hegstrom
Houston Chronicle
May. 11, 2005 05:48 PM
HOUSTON - After spending a month engaged in a citizen patrol along the Arizona border, the Minutemen are finalizing plans to come to Texas.
Chris Simcox, the leader of the controversial Arizona project to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from Mexico, says he has tentatively set October as a date to begin patrols along the Rio Grande in South Texas. Other patrols are being considered for New Mexico and California.
But Simcox says there are serious logistical problems for patrols in Texas. Most of the land along the Texas border is privately owned, and some of it is urbanized, unlike the open lands the group walked in Arizona. advertisement
And the same reports of drug violence that have scared some tourists away from the South Texas region have also become a concern to the Minutemen.
"The Texas border is pretty dangerous right now," Simcox said. That won't scare the Arizona-based citizen patrols away, but it does mean they will be more careful in planning their operations in Texas, which might even include efforts to disrupt the flow of drugs.
"Security becomes a serious issue because we are going to be annoying a lot of people," including leaders of the drug cartels, he said.
The month-long Minuteman Project patrol in Arizona likely diverted the flow of illegal immigrants instead of preventing it. Organizers say the Border Patrol apprehended fewer than 5,000 illegal immigrants in the 20-mile region they patrolled for a month, as opposed to 60,000 the year before.
But organizers did serve to draw attention to the issue. President Bush called the Minutemen "vigilantes," but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger praised them.
Houston organizers opposed to illegal immigration say they are ready to go to the border.
"Get geared up and get ready, because we're going to be there in October," said Wanda Schultz, a Houston and representative of Americans for Zero Population Growth. Schultz and her husband went to Arizona last month to participate in the Minuteman effort.
Border representatives were less enthusiastic.
"I think the Minutemen would probably create more problems than they would solve," said Brownsville Mayor Eddie Trevino, Jr.
Trevino said most people in South Texas believe the Border Patrol is doing its job. Increased government patrols in recent years have reduced crime in Brownsville, he said.
Texas also has a string of cities with Mexican twin cities, where regular cross-border traffic is a boon to the local economies and where citizen patrols might not be welcome.
"We're trying to distinguish between terrorists and tourists," said Trevino. That's a difficult task better left to trained professional law enforcement, he added.
Though the Minutemen initially considered patrolling near Brownsville, Simcox said he is now considering going much further northwest, to the Big Bend National Park.
He's also reaching out to South Texas ranchers who might consider inviting the Minutemen to patrol their private land.
But recent history might make that effort more difficult. A group called Ranch Rescue did a number of patrols on private South Texas ranches in 2003, including one on a ranch near Hebbronville. Two illegal immigrants from El Salvador claimed they were detained and one said he was pistol whipped by a Ranch Rescue representative on patrol.
A jury deadlocked on an assault charge against the Ranch Rescue representative. But the two immigrants filed a civil suit against both Ranch Rescue and the landowner. The owner, Joe Sutton, settled out of court.
Simcox says the Minutemen can't be compared with Ranch Rescue. Representatives of the Minutemen have been told to notify the Border Patrol when they spot an illegal immigrant crossing the border, but not to attempt an arrest themselves.
Ranch Rescue "took a much more militant approach," Simcox said.
Edward Hegstrom
Houston Chronicle
May. 11, 2005 05:48 PM
HOUSTON - After spending a month engaged in a citizen patrol along the Arizona border, the Minutemen are finalizing plans to come to Texas.
Chris Simcox, the leader of the controversial Arizona project to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from Mexico, says he has tentatively set October as a date to begin patrols along the Rio Grande in South Texas. Other patrols are being considered for New Mexico and California.
But Simcox says there are serious logistical problems for patrols in Texas. Most of the land along the Texas border is privately owned, and some of it is urbanized, unlike the open lands the group walked in Arizona. advertisement
And the same reports of drug violence that have scared some tourists away from the South Texas region have also become a concern to the Minutemen.
"The Texas border is pretty dangerous right now," Simcox said. That won't scare the Arizona-based citizen patrols away, but it does mean they will be more careful in planning their operations in Texas, which might even include efforts to disrupt the flow of drugs.
"Security becomes a serious issue because we are going to be annoying a lot of people," including leaders of the drug cartels, he said.
The month-long Minuteman Project patrol in Arizona likely diverted the flow of illegal immigrants instead of preventing it. Organizers say the Border Patrol apprehended fewer than 5,000 illegal immigrants in the 20-mile region they patrolled for a month, as opposed to 60,000 the year before.
But organizers did serve to draw attention to the issue. President Bush called the Minutemen "vigilantes," but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger praised them.
Houston organizers opposed to illegal immigration say they are ready to go to the border.
"Get geared up and get ready, because we're going to be there in October," said Wanda Schultz, a Houston and representative of Americans for Zero Population Growth. Schultz and her husband went to Arizona last month to participate in the Minuteman effort.
Border representatives were less enthusiastic.
"I think the Minutemen would probably create more problems than they would solve," said Brownsville Mayor Eddie Trevino, Jr.
Trevino said most people in South Texas believe the Border Patrol is doing its job. Increased government patrols in recent years have reduced crime in Brownsville, he said.
Texas also has a string of cities with Mexican twin cities, where regular cross-border traffic is a boon to the local economies and where citizen patrols might not be welcome.
"We're trying to distinguish between terrorists and tourists," said Trevino. That's a difficult task better left to trained professional law enforcement, he added.
Though the Minutemen initially considered patrolling near Brownsville, Simcox said he is now considering going much further northwest, to the Big Bend National Park.
He's also reaching out to South Texas ranchers who might consider inviting the Minutemen to patrol their private land.
But recent history might make that effort more difficult. A group called Ranch Rescue did a number of patrols on private South Texas ranches in 2003, including one on a ranch near Hebbronville. Two illegal immigrants from El Salvador claimed they were detained and one said he was pistol whipped by a Ranch Rescue representative on patrol.
A jury deadlocked on an assault charge against the Ranch Rescue representative. But the two immigrants filed a civil suit against both Ranch Rescue and the landowner. The owner, Joe Sutton, settled out of court.
Simcox says the Minutemen can't be compared with Ranch Rescue. Representatives of the Minutemen have been told to notify the Border Patrol when they spot an illegal immigrant crossing the border, but not to attempt an arrest themselves.
Ranch Rescue "took a much more militant approach," Simcox said.
