By Sara Inés Calderón The Brownsville Herald
September 8, 2005 —
<http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_more.php?id=66949_0_10_0_C>
The Minutemen are coming.
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas will begin their operation here sooner than expected in response to a deployment of Border Patrol agents to aid in hurricane disaster areas.
Minuteman President Al Garza confirmed Wednesday that about 50 of the organization’s volunteers would come to Brownsville this month for early implementation of their operation: Secure Our Borders.
Minuteman officials do not publicize when they will arrive or where they will set up camp. Traditionally, they have limited their activities in Texas to private properties where landowners have requested help.
The volunteer border watch group, dedicated to stemming illegal immigration, will head to other sites in Rio Grande Valley, Texas and other border states.
Garza might be one of the 50 volunteers who come here, he said, despite the fact that he expects a negative reaction from the members of the Brown Berets, a California-born Hispanic civil rights group that has proclaimed it will combat the Minuteman movement.
Secure Our Borders was slated to begin Oct. 1, but was moved up a month and began Friday. Garza previously had said the group would not come to Brownsville, but the deployment of hundreds of Border Patrol agents to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina changed their plans.
“The government has come up with a reason for the Border Patrol to be placed in Louisiana, completely obliterating and demolishing all the efforts of the Border Patrol on the borders,” he said.
Border Patrol officials in Washington, D.C. confirmed Wednesday that 200 agents were deployed from across the country to aid in relief efforts. The total number of Customs and Border Protection personnel sent to the area is around 400, including Border Patrol agents, spokesman Barry Morrissey said. It is not known how many Valley agents joined the effort.
“The national Border Patrol strategy allows for disaster relief without compromising our traditional law enforcement mission at the border,” Morrissey said. “Our contingency plans work without having a negative impact on our traditional mission.”
Garza said the border is more short-handed than before, and the Minutemen are “picking up the slack.” Minutemen sent to this area will “observe, spot and report” illegal activity.
Illegal immigration and terrorism are the group’s chief concerns, he said.
The early launch has left the group in a financial crunch. According to a news release from the group, “Having to start our operation early means we’ re having to start without having all of the funds in place that we planned for.”
Elizabeth García, an organizer with Social Justice and Peace Pastoral, a group organizing an anti-Minuteman white ribbon campaign in Brownsville, said her plans would not change with the Minutemen’s early arrival.
García has invited city leaders to take a stand against the Minutemen. An informal poll of City Commission members and the mayor showed that a resolution against Minuteman efforts in Brownsville would likely find support. El Paso has already adopted such a resolution.
García’s ribbon campaign continues to grow, with about 50 in Brownsville currently involved in the project, and organizers in McAllen might soon join, she said.
The Minutemen “stand for violence,” Garcia said and she will stand side by side with them on the border to monitor their activities.
“We don’t want them here, we don’t need them here,” she said, “and if they have a little bit of pride, maybe they should go back home.”
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