City adopts resolution to keep Minutemen out
David Crowder El Paso Times
<http://www.borderlandnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS/5082 40333/1001>
Stepping into the border fray over the Minutemen, the El Paso City Council adopted a resolution inviting them to stay out of town.
East-Central city Rep. José Alexandro Lozano cast the sole vote against the measure, saying he has spent time with them in Arizona.
"If the law allows them to do their thing, let it be," Lozano said. "We should totally find a way of closing our borders, not only for the sake of illegal immigration, but also for the sake of lives."
The resolution, drafted by city Reps. Steve Ortega and Beto O'Rourke, was strongly supported by seven city representatives.
It asserted that the El Paso area's economic future depends on "a spirit of cooperation and good will," and that El Paso officials support law enforcement officers in enforcing the rule of law and "reject civilian attempts to enforce immigration law."
Speaking against the resolution, Central El Pasoan Sal Gomez said, "My opinion about the Minutemen is a violation of any law, in this case federal law, must be confronted with a consequence, not a reward. Our country is being invaded on a massive scale by illegal immigration. Face it, it is the truth."
A representative of the American Civil Liberties Union who just moved to El Paso from Arizona, Ray Ybarra, urged support for the measure, saying the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteers represent "a message of hatred and intolerance."
"The militarization of the border has led to more than 3,500 deaths, and the solution is not to try what has already failed," he said.
Later, Texas' Minutemen director Shannon McCauley said the city's resolution "doesn't mean anything to me or any American who wants secure borders."
"We're going to come down there and secure the border and cost the drug cartel and the human smuggler organizations as much as we can in the month of October."
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