South to the Border: Illegal immigrant critic to volunteer at checkpoint near Mexico for patrol

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South to the Border: Illegal immigrant critic to
volunteer at checkpoint near Mexico for patrol Wednesday, December 29, 2004

David McLaughlin 508-626-4338 Metrowest Daily News

FRAMINGHAM -- A vocal critic of illegal immigration locally is heading to the Mexican border next spring to join a controversial movement of volunteer patrols working to snag illegal immigrants entering the country.
Jeffrey Buck, one of the founders of the Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement, plans to join volunteers from across the country in the southeast corner of Arizona to stop people from sneaking across the border.
Inspired by the American Revolution, organizers are calling the monthlong campaign the Minuteman Project. They are billing it as a protest against the federal government's failure to stop the tide of illegal immigrants as well as a way to help U.S. border patrol officers.
"I can't sit around and do nothing. With things transpiring the way they are, I have to do something," Buck said.
The project has so far attracted 145 volunteers from across the country plus one from Canada, according to its Web site. Teams of volunteers, who may be armed, will confront immigrants and call the U.S. border patrol, but will not arrest or harm anyone, said Buck and one of the organizers.
Buck, who made a similar trip in August, says he may bring a gun for protection and hopes to round up immigrants with the help of a night-vision scope and a camouflaged radio.
"Win, lose or draw, to live with dignity I feel you have to stand up for what's right," he said.
Volunteer patrols like the Minuteman Project and others have come under fire from the Anti-Defamation League, which labeled them in a 2003 report as "right wing extremist groups" pushing an ideology of "hate and intolerance."
Robert Leikind, executive director of ADL's New England office, said their vigilantism is not the way to deal with the significant social problem of immigration control. He called the volunteer patrols "misguided patriotism at best" and at worst, "potentially a form of terror that pollutes democratic processes."
"People are entitled to their beliefs, but when you start seeing conspiracies and you start arming people who believe they are in some struggle, it's a bad formula," Leikind said.
The federal government is also not backing the effort. Mario Villarreal, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol, said in a statement the agency encourages the public to help "within the limits of the law and in a responsible manner."
"The CPB Border Patrol strongly discourages the public from taking the law into their own hands. The job of enforcing our nation's immigration laws and protecting its borders is best left to highly trained law enforcement personnel," he said.
The Minuteman Project is an offshoot of Civil Homeland Defense, one of three patrol groups cited by the Anti-Defamation League in its 2003 report. Civil Homeland Defense founder Chris Simcox of Tombstone, Ariz., called the ADL's accusations "absurd." He called his group "nothing more than a neighborhood watch group" that has found 5,000 people entering the country in the last three years and saved 153 lives.
"This is about the rule of law and national security. It's we the people telling the government we want protection down here," he said.
Buck also dismissed the ADL's charges as a "distraction" used to stop people from participating.
"We're all just patriots concerned with protecting our country," he said.

South to the Border: Illegal immigrant critic to volunteer at checkpoint near Mexico for patrol	Wednesday, December 29, 2004
David McLaughlin 508-626-4338	Metrowest Daily News
FRAMINGHAM -- A vocal critic of illegal immigration locally is heading to the Mexican border next spring to join a controversial movement of volunteer patrols working to snag illegal immigrants entering the country. Jeffrey Buck, one of the founders of the Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement, plans to join volunteers from across the country in the southeast corner of Arizona to stop people from sneaking across the border. Inspired by the American Revolution, organizers are calling the monthlong campaign the Minuteman Project. They are billing it as a protest against the federal government's failure to stop the tide of illegal immigrants as well as a way to help U.S. border patrol officers. "I can't sit around and do nothing. With things transpiring the way they are, I have to do something," Buck said. The project has so far attracted 145 volunteers from across the country plus one from Canada, according to its Web site. Teams of volunteers, who may be armed, will confront immigrants and call the U.S. border patrol, but will not arrest or harm anyone, said Buck and one of the organizers. Buck, who made a similar trip in August, says he may bring a gun for protection and hopes to round up immigrants with the help of a night-vision scope and a camouflaged radio. "Win, lose or draw, to live with dignity I feel you have to stand up for what's right," he said. Volunteer patrols like the Minuteman Project and others have come under fire from the Anti-Defamation League, which labeled them in a 2003 report as "right wing extremist groups" pushing an ideology of "hate and intolerance." Robert Leikind, executive director of ADL's New England office, said their vigilantism is not the way to deal with the significant social problem of immigration control. He called the volunteer patrols "misguided patriotism at best" and at worst, "potentially a form of terror that pollutes democratic processes." "People are entitled to their beliefs, but when you start seeing conspiracies and you start arming people who believe they are in some struggle, it's a bad formula," Leikind said. The federal government is also not backing the effort. Mario Villarreal, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol, said in a statement the agency encourages the public to help "within the limits of the law and in a responsible manner." "The CPB Border Patrol strongly discourages the public from taking the law into their own hands. The job of enforcing our nation's immigration laws and protecting its borders is best left to highly trained law enforcement personnel," he said. The Minuteman Project is an offshoot of Civil Homeland Defense, one of three patrol groups cited by the Anti-Defamation League in its 2003 report. Civil Homeland Defense founder Chris Simcox of Tombstone, Ariz., called the ADL's accusations "absurd." He called his group "nothing more than a neighborhood watch group" that has found 5,000 people entering the country in the last three years and saved 153 lives. "This is about the rule of law and national security. It's we the people telling the government we want protection down here," he said. Buck also dismissed the ADL's charges as a "distraction" used to stop people from participating. "We're all just patriots concerned with protecting our country," he said.

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