The Minuteman Project Inc.

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The Minuteman Project Inc is an organization devoted to reducing illegal immigration by detering illegal crossings of the United States–Mexico border and by raising national awareness of the issue. The organization also monitors the border and alerts the United States Border Patrol to the presence of unauthorized crossers. In addition to physically holding vigil over the border, they engage in political protest and other forms of activism. It describes itself as "a citizens' Neighborhood Watch on our border". President George W. Bush has referred to The Minuteman Project as vigilantes.^[1]

The Project has expanded to include the United States-Canada border as well. ^[2] The name comes from the minutemen who fought in the American Revolution. The group's founder and principal director is Jim Gilchrist of Aliso Viejo, California. The Minuteman Project is often confused with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (Arizona), which is a separate entity not related to the Minuteman Project.

1 Actions
2 Support for the Minuteman Project
3 Opposition to the Minuteman Project
4 References
5 External links
- 5.1 Related videos

[edit] Actions

The group was found on October 1] 2004.

On April 2, 2005, Minuteman Project volunteers near Naco reported 18 people as illegal immigrants, resulting in the border crossers being arrested by authorities. As of April 6, 2005, 531 volunteers had been positioned in the patrolled region. ^[3] ^[4]

On April 20, 2006, Gilchrist and The Minuteman Project issued a public ultimatum to Bush to "declare a state of emergency and deploy the National Guard and military reserves (and begin building a border security fence) by the 25th of May." If the President refuses to do so, "on Memorial Day weekend, we're going to break ground and we're going to start helping landowners (along the US-Mexico border) to build a double layer security fence along their properties, because the federal government refuses to protect them" ^[5].

[edit] Support for the Minuteman Project

On April 28, 2005, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the Minuteman Project during an interview on The John and Ken Show on Los Angeles radio station KFI, saying that the group had been doing "a terrific job".

^[6] He reiterated his supportive comments the following day, noting that the Minutemen would be welcome to patrol the border between California and Mexico.^[7]

In an exchange during an interview on FOX News between host Alan Colmes and Minutemen member Ted Hayes, Colmes claims that "Critics of the Minutemen have often labeled their efforts to secure the U.S. border with Mexico as discriminatory against people of color." Hayes, an African-American, countered that illegal immigration harms all American citizens, particularly those of the lower end of the socio-economic scale, and claims many African-Americans support the Minuteman Project and that they have many African-American members.^[8]

[edit] Opposition to the Minuteman Project

The project has generated controversy and Mexican President Vicente Fox has criticized the group. President Bush, meanwhile, criticized them for "vigilante" border projects. ^[9]

Hector Carreon of the separatist Mexican Indio organization Nation of Aztlán, writes, "The Minutemen have proven to be nothing less than a gang of anti-Mexican racists and their actions have the potential of alienating Mexico, its government and the millions of Americans of Mexican background." ^[10]

In addition, the Southern Poverty Law Center says that the group is harboring members of the National Alliance despite its claims that it would screen out white supremacists.^[11]

[edit] Counterprotests at Minuteman events

Counterprotests against the Minutemen have included Anti-Racist Action, International ANSWER, the Revolutionary Communist Party, the Progressive Labor Party, the International Socialist Organization, Food Not Bombs, the AntiMinutemen Defendants, the Free People's Movement, the Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen, Coalicion Deporten a la Migra, the Brown Berets, the Zapatista Solidarity Coalition, the Philadelphia Revolutionary Marxist Collective, the Sacramento Mexican American Political Association, the Brown Syndicate, the Brass Liberation Orchestra, the Chicano Consortium, anarchists and other leftwing, immigrant rights,civil rights groups and antiborder activists. On October 29, 2005, a number of Minuteman supporters held a rally outside the State Capitol in Sacramento. A coalition of groups opposed to the Minutemen's agenda held a counter-protest. ^[12] Some of the counter-demonstrators attempted to break through the police lines to disrupt the rally, but they were unsuccessful. A few arrests were made during the protest. Anarchist groups involved in this incident have made allegations of police brutality.^[13] Former vice-presidential candidate Peter Camejo was also present.

Another notable counterprotest of the Minutemen occurred at the U. S. Capitol on February 8, 2006. With several lawmakers present including Tom Tancredo, an immigration reduction advocate and an outspoken critic of President Bush's guest worker program, three National Socialist Movement members showed up in brown shirts and swastika armbands to voice their displeasure with both the Minutemen and the pro-amnesty counterdemonstrators present. Upon their appearance Jim Gilchrist, visibly upset at their interference with his assembly of Minutemen, promptly took to the podium and blared "Go to hell" to the brown shirts and told them to leave.^[14] Minutemen spokespeople have denounced white supremacist groups and activists and claim they do not knowingly allow them into their ranks. ^{[citation needed]} NSM spokesman Bill White called the Minutemen "sellouts." ^[15] This counterdemonstration received international media attention.

On November 1, 2006, Chris Simcox was speaking at Georgetown University amidst protest from students. During his speech, the fire alarm was pulled in the building forcing an evacuation.

[edit] Columbia University incident

On October 4, 2006 more than 40 students and demonstrators stormed the stage of Alfred Lerner Hall during a Minuteman presentation at Columbia University in New York City, where Minuteman founder, Jim Gilchrist, had been invited to speak. The student protestors rushed onto stage with a yellow banner stating "No one is Illegal" in English, Spanish, and ArabicDuring the ensuing scuffle between the protestors and Gilchrist supporters, the podium and some tables were knocked over. One supporter of the Minutemen appeared to be caught on tape repeatedly kicking a protester in the head. The protestors then gathered outside the Columbia University gates and continued chanting. The event was captured by several media organizations and has drawn much scrutiny, especially from Bill O'Reilly, who believes the protestors crossed the line by infringing on Gilchrist's Constitutional right to freedom of speech. In fact Columbia University president Lee Bollinger stated in an email to the campus that "No one...shall have the right or the power to use the cover of protest to silence speakers."^[16] Spanish television stations such as Univision, however, took a more objective view of the protests. They aired the entire protest while editing was kept to a minimum. The protest was quickly broken up by security, and has resulted in discussions at Columbia's campuses over freedom of speech and the transparency of the process through which controversial speakers are invited to speak [1], [2].

On October 11, 2006, Gilchrist appeared on Democracy Now to debate Karina Garcia of the Columbia University Chicano Caucus. Shortly after being pressed by Garcia about allegations of immigrant abuse, Gilchrist withdrew from the discussion, claiming that he was advised to do so by legal counsel.

On October 11, 2006, hundreds of videos directed by Minuteman volunteers and Gilchrist-affiliated Save Our State members, in which participants stalked, harassed and blew portable air horns in the ears of unsuspecting day laborers, were removed from the video sharing site YouTube after customer complaints. Many of the videos appeared to show Minuteman volunteers actively violating the group's SOP.[3] The ban came on the same day that Gilchrist prematurely withdrew from a radio debate on Democracy Now; there is no evidence that the ban and withdrawal were connected.

[edit] T-shirt incident

On April 6, 2005, three Minuteman Project members took a picture and video of a 25-year-old alleged illegal immigrant posing with a T-shirt with one of them. The T-shirt, which was also worn by volunteer Bryan Barton, read "Bryan Barton caught me crossing the border and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

Barton claims to have encountered a man named Jose who had been near a main highway while Barton was off duty from patrolling the border. The man said he had been walking for two days in the Mexican desert. Believing the man to be in distress from exposure and lack of fluids and food, Barton gave him a bowl of Wheaties and milk. He then contacted the U.S. Border Patrol. Barton shook Jose's hand several times, translated Jose's Spanish for the camera, held up a lettered T-shirt which he made to commemorate the event, and gave him 20 US dollars as the Border Patrol arrived and took Jose into custody. Critics of the MMP raised questions about the incident, but an investigation by the Cochise County Sheriff's office cleared Barton of any wrongdoing.

However, Jose claimed that he had been detained against his will by Barton and other Minutemen Project members. Although Jose did not press criminal charges, Barton's actions were declaimed in the press at best as "mocking" ^[17], and by some as a hate crime, ^[18] . The MMP activists videotaped their actions and posted them on Barton's national congressional campaign website.

Project organizers, however, said they have a more restrictive policy that no contact at all can be made with suspect.[4] Project volunteers are only allowed to observe suspected aliens and then report those observations to the Border Patrol. Minutemen volunteer and Minuteman Project leader, Jim Gilchrist, said, "The volunteer's actions were admirable, justified and undeniably humane, but unfortunately they jeopardized our established procedures and overall purpose of passively monitoring the border. It's unfortunate, but we had to dismiss him from further participation". The ACLU issued a press release concerning this incident. ^[19] Barton since has launched a political campaign for a San Diego congressional district, and video of the actual incident can be viewed and downloaded at his campaign site. ^[20] This was the only incident of this kind reported.

[edit] Watchdog groups

Various media representatives and ACLU observers are also in the patrol zone attempting to observe Minutemen volunteers at work. In California, the state with the largest Mexican indio immigrant population, the Human Rights Coalition of California (HRCC) announced its establishment and campaign against the Minuteman Project and the Friends of the Border Patrol. President Ed Hererra of the Human Rights Coalition of California stated: "We do not believe that we must put human right and human worth aside simply because they are undocumented immigrants; First and foremost they are human beings... The Minuteman Project is not simply about national security and terrorism it is about a deep-rooted concern for an evershifting ethnocultural shift in the American population."[5] The HRCC has been present along the U.S./CaliforniaMexico border since the arrival of the California Minutemen (A division of Friends of the Border Patrol). The Southern Poverty Law Center has also issued reports which suggest that the group is attracting many individuals with ties to neo-nazi and other white supremacist organizations.

Jim Gilchrist insists that the claims by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)have been completely unproven, and The Minuteman Project founder has repeatedly chastised the SPLC for engaging in "an earnest effort to libel and slander any person or group that the SPLC does not like". Gilchrist has said "The SPLC is little more than a modern day lynch mob" ^[21] Jim Gilchrist states that they run background checks on all individuals who apply to patrol the border. However, even he acknowledged that background checks may not reveal every aspect of an applicant (i.e. if they belong to a racist or hate group). He stated that sometimes even law enforcement doesn't have that information.

[edit] Garden Grove incident

On May 25, 2005, Gilchrist spoke in Garden Grove, California to the California Coalition for Immigration Reform at the Garden Grove Women's Club. According to reports approximately 300 protesters attended to protest Gilchrist's appearance. Hal Netkin, a Minuteman supporter who was leaving the speech, drove through a crowd of protesters who had surrounded his van. Protesters alleged that Netkin drove through the crowd unprovoked and struck two people. Minuteman supporters and the Garden Grove Police said that protesters rocked and banged the vehicle, and that the two protesters fell as the van approached them. The two attended local hospitals for minor injuries, while Netkin was temporarily held and released without being cited. ^[22] After reviewing videotape of the incident, the Garden Grove Police said that Netkin's actions were justified. According to Garden Grove police Lt. Mike Hanfield, "It was reasonable for him to be afraid."^[23] Critics have accused the police of partiality and of not carrying out justice for releasing Netkin so quickly. Supporters have said that Netkin had no other choice due to the violent and threatening actions of the protesters. Five protesters were arrested. ^[24]

Of the five protesters who were arrested, two were released with no charges filed. The remaining three were charged with numerous misdemeanors, ranging from resisting arrest to abusing police horses. The remaining three were also charged with felonies of assaulting police officers with deadly weapons, other than firearms; the alleged weapons being soda cans. Several months later, one of the three defendants accepted a plea bargain. The remaining two defendants have yet to resolve their cases.

[edit] References

^ James G. Lakely. "Bush decries border project", The Washington Times, March 24, 2005.
^ Celeste Mackenzie. "Minutemen volunteers to patrol Canada-U.S. border for illegal migrants", CBC News, March 28, 2006.
^ "Civilian group to begin watching Canadian border", Associated Press.
^ Todd Battis and John Fenton. "Armed Americans patrol B.C.-Washington border", CTV.
^ "Minutemen May Help Build Fence Along U.S.-Mexico Border", Fox News, April 20, 2006.
^ Carla Marinucci, Mark Martin, Chronicle Political Writers. "Governor endorses Minutemen on border", San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 2005.
^ James Sterngold, Mark Martin, Chronicle Staff Writers. "Governor signals he'd welcome Minutemen on California border", San Francisco Chronicle, April 30, 2005.
^ "Is Illegal Immigration as Dangerous for African-Americans as Slavery Was?", Fox News, April 27, 2006.
^ James G. Lakely. "Bush decries border project", The Washington Times, March 24, 2005.
^ Hector Carreon. "Mexico/USA border tensions at an all time high", ACN, March 18, 2005.
^ {{ Jim Gilchrist has said that these claims by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)have so far been completely unproven, and The Minuteman Project leader has repeatedly chastised the SPLC for engaging in "an earnest effort to libel and slander any person or group that the SPLC does not like". "The SPLC is little more than a modern day lynch mob", Gilchrist has said. cite news |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=13 |title=Nazis, racists join Minuteman Project |author= |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=April 22, 2005 }}
^ http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/10/1721346.php
^ http://www.ainfos.ca/05/nov/ainfos00037.html
^ "Minuteman rallies at Capitol", Associated Press, 2006-02-09. Retrieved on 2006-06-24.
^ http://overthrow88.blogspot.com/2006_02_08_overthrow88_archive.html
^ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/president/communications%20files/freedomofspeech.htm
^ "Immigrant protests border volunteer's actions", MSNBC, April 7, 2005.
^ "Bryan Barton, Hate Criminal at UCSD", San Diego Indymedia, November 30, 2005.
^ "ACLU of Arizona Denounces Unlawful Imprisonment of Immigrant by Minuteman Volunteer", American Civil Liberties Union, April 7, 2005.
^ http://www.votebarton.com/videos/bryan_barton_border_crossing.WMV
^ David Holthouse. "Arizona Showdown", SPLC, March 24, 2005.
^ "Man Freed After Driving Into Minuteman Protesters", NBC 4.
^ "Violence erupts at border-control event", Associated Press, May 27, 2005.
^ http://euphoricreality.net/journal/2005/05/26/410/

[edit] External links

[edit] Related videos

"Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders" Fox News Channel, July 26, 2006.
"Anti-Illegal Immigration Protest Turns Violent" Fox News Channel, July 10, 2006.
The 'Border Film Project' examines the issue from both sides of the border, CBC News: The Hour, November 07, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2005.
July, 2005 CNN coverage of the California Minutemen's operations on the US/Mexico border near Campo, CA
July 23, 2005 "Hundreds of California Minutemen and Communists, Socialists, Anarchists and other Open Borders Protestors clash on the US/Mexico border near Campo, CA" from the BorderWatch website
Documentary Film about The Minuteman Project
February 4, 2006 Minutemen and counter protesters at day laborer hiring site in Vista, CA
Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border, Documentary on the Minutemen Movement
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, May 9th 2006 (video in archives)

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