Minuteman patrols start this weekend
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
TOMBSTONE - They came from all over the country - from Maryland and Minnesota, Texas and Tennessee.
Some packed pistols. Others merely had cell phones. A handful dressed in camouflage. More than that walked with canes.
By yesterday afternoon, there were about 150 volunteers who hoped to help the Border Patrol stop illegal immigrants from crossing a 23-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border.
It wasn't the 1,300 organizers of the Minuteman Project had hoped for, but it was enough to send a message, said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
"The federal government has walked away from this border," Tancredo told about 75 volunteers packed into a small hall.
Tancredo has gained popularity for his virulently anti-immigration stance and came to Tombstone to support the project and kick off an orientation session.
"We are here to exercise what is a basic American right: free speech and the right to assemble," he said.
Outside the hall, Aztec dancers dressed in feathered costumes kicked up dust and a group from Food Not Bombs and EarthFirst! beat pots and pans in protest of what they said was the Minuteman Project's racist message.
Prompted by the throngs pouring in, Luis Martinez, a third-generation Tombstone-area resident, decided yesterday morning to come by himself and address reporters, some from as far away as Italy, who seemed to outnumber volunteers.
"These people (those from the project) aren't from here," he told reporters. "They've come here to cause problems - to fight. Not to solve problems.
"I work in a ranch and all the ranchers use labor from the other side."
Fighting back tears, Martinez said he just wants the Minuteman group to leave Tombstone.
An hour south of Tombstone, a group of elderly men who labored as guest workers in the United States decades ago in the bracero program, closed down the Naco border entry in protest.
"It was the braceros of yesterday supporting the braceros of today," said organizer Violeta Dominquez of Mexico City. "These people face enough hazards as it is without the added danger of the Minutemen."
The braceros came from as far as Tijuana, Baja California, and Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, and handed out safety literature to immigrants who were waiting to cross the border, Dominquez said.
Minuteman patrols were initially scheduled to begin Monday after weekend rallies.
But to accommodate volunteers who can stay for a limited time and are eager to get to work, organizers signed up people for patrols set for the weekend.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=border_news&story_id=040205a10_minutemen_
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
TOMBSTONE - They came from all over the country - from Maryland and Minnesota, Texas and Tennessee.
Some packed pistols. Others merely had cell phones. A handful dressed in camouflage. More than that walked with canes.
By yesterday afternoon, there were about 150 volunteers who hoped to help the Border Patrol stop illegal immigrants from crossing a 23-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border.
It wasn't the 1,300 organizers of the Minuteman Project had hoped for, but it was enough to send a message, said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
"The federal government has walked away from this border," Tancredo told about 75 volunteers packed into a small hall.
Tancredo has gained popularity for his virulently anti-immigration stance and came to Tombstone to support the project and kick off an orientation session.
"We are here to exercise what is a basic American right: free speech and the right to assemble," he said.
Outside the hall, Aztec dancers dressed in feathered costumes kicked up dust and a group from Food Not Bombs and EarthFirst! beat pots and pans in protest of what they said was the Minuteman Project's racist message.
Prompted by the throngs pouring in, Luis Martinez, a third-generation Tombstone-area resident, decided yesterday morning to come by himself and address reporters, some from as far away as Italy, who seemed to outnumber volunteers.
"These people (those from the project) aren't from here," he told reporters. "They've come here to cause problems - to fight. Not to solve problems.
"I work in a ranch and all the ranchers use labor from the other side."
Fighting back tears, Martinez said he just wants the Minuteman group to leave Tombstone.
An hour south of Tombstone, a group of elderly men who labored as guest workers in the United States decades ago in the bracero program, closed down the Naco border entry in protest.
"It was the braceros of yesterday supporting the braceros of today," said organizer Violeta Dominquez of Mexico City. "These people face enough hazards as it is without the added danger of the Minutemen."
The braceros came from as far as Tijuana, Baja California, and Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, and handed out safety literature to immigrants who were waiting to cross the border, Dominquez said.
Minuteman patrols were initially scheduled to begin Monday after weekend rallies.
But to accommodate volunteers who can stay for a limited time and are eager to get to work, organizers signed up people for patrols set for the weekend.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=border_news&story_id=040205a10_minutemen_