Southern Border Developments

[Jeremy]

Give the Mexicans a break, they have a hard life in Mexico. It's easy to understand why they want to come here. For every civilian trying to stop them, there will be 10 smugglers helping the Mexicans. The Mexicans are cool people & are very laid back, which is good for local communitites.

[ChrisF202]

I heard they would only be allowed to carry pistols.

As for the Hells Angels ... let them kill each other, a few years back the Hells Angels and the Pagans had a huge fight at a convention hall a few miles away from me. Over 300 cops had to respond and 3 people were killed and about 100 injured.

And Bonehead, you are 100% correct. If the Mexican Army or MS-13 as much as even fire upon the Minutemen there will be a 100,000 Americans there the next morning. It will be even more of a disaster then the 1846 - 48 war.

[Veni Vidi Vici]

Lol, makes my job easier. ;)

[Confed999]

I wonder what kind of heat the US civilians are packing? Any clues?

I'm sure it's personal weapons. You name it, it's probably there.

[Julie]

Laid back or not, after 9/11 is not the time for this to be condoned by our Government or the Mexican Government.

I wonder what kind of heat the US civilians are packing? Any clues?

[Jeremy]

I know alot of Mexicans, they are a laid back people. If you leave them alone, the Mexicans will leave you alone. These citizens are doing a noble thing keeping the Mexicans out of the country. The government should pay these citizens since they are not able to properly protect the border.

Anybody remember when the Hell's Angles drove around the country? They travel by the thousands leaving a path of destruction in their wake. I was very young at the time, but citizens in Missouri ganged together to keep the Hell's Angels away from our town. My mom & aunt Kathy were against the Hell's Angels because they were Roman Catholic. My dad got his shotgun & joined the little crown which was lead by actual police to keep the Hell's Angels out of our town! Wild ****!

[TopHatter]

It is time the mexicans realize they have no legal right to illegally cross our borders. If they want into this country, they are going to have to do it by going through the right channels.

That is GD right bonehead.

We've had this discussion before on another thread. It infuriates me that illegal immigrants are able to come over the border like this and God Forbid somebody try to stop them. They get branded as racists, rednecks, gun-toting kooks etc

[Confed999]

Our elected leaders can no longer sweep this issue under the rug, ignore it, and hope it goes away.

Yeah, good point, kinda hard to make this go away.

[bonehead]

1200 American civilians vs. 1600 Mexican troops? I'll still bet on the Americans. ;)

That 1200 number will sky rocket over night if the Mexican troops try anything. I really hope there are no incidents, but I am happy that the american people have finally said enough is enough. Our elected leaders can no longer sweep this issue under the rug, ignore it, and hope it goes away. It is time the mexicans realize they have no legal right to illegally cross our borders. If they want into this country, they are going to have to do it by going through the right channels.

[Confed999]

Not to mention that 1,600 Mexican troops are sitting just across the border ....

1200 American civilians vs. 1600 Mexican troops? I'll still bet on the Americans. ;)

[ChrisF202]

God Bless those Minutemen. They are true patriots.

My fear is that the drug/immigrant smugglers will try to attack them. Not to mention that 1,600 Mexican troops are sitting just across the border ....

[troung]

"Polls show that upward of 90 percent of Americans favor a clampdown"

Need an American flag icon...

[Confed999]

Sounds like neighborhood watch gone national.

[Julie]

Armed Civilians Converge Upon Mexican Border

TOMBSTONE, Ariz. — They call themselves patriots, but critics call them everything from gun-toting rednecks to racists.

Hundreds of people were converging on Arizona's Mexican border Friday to ready for a month-long campaign to urge federal lawmakers to do more to stem illegal immigration.

The events have been organized by the Minuteman Project (search), a group that organizes volunteer civilian patrols on the Arizona/Mexico border to report illegal immigrant crossings to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Participants on Friday were rallying in Tombstone, Ariz., and taking part in an orientation.

Rallies and protests were planned throughout the weekend to call for stricter border enforcement.

About 1,200 people, mainly from the Southwest, were expected to attend events including stationing people along the border 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the next 30 days in a type of massive neighborhood-watch program.

The protesters say they're fed up with Washington's inability and/or reluctance to clamp down on illegal immigration, and they're upset with Mexico for encouraging its citizens to break U.S. laws and exporting its unemployment problems.

Polls show that upward of 90 percent of Americans favor a clampdown, but the project is controversial nonetheless. Minuteman volunteers consider themselves patriots, much like the minutemen during the American Revolution.

President Bush, during a recent meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox (search), denounced such "vigilantes."

"I'm against vigilantes in the United States of America and for enforcing law in a rational way," Bush said.

Armando Navarro, a University of California-Riverside political science professor and coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights (search), made up mostly of Hispanic activists, had some harsher words for the Minutemen.

"They have advertised nationally for volunteers to come in and enjoy the climate in the hunt against Mexicans. Literally, that's the language that they have used to promote their nativist, racist politics," Navarro charged.

But James Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, said he's no racist.

"My son is Mexican. My grandson is Mexican. I've never been affiliated with any racist type of group," he said. "We're not going down there to hunt Mexicans, we're going down there to bring national awareness to the fact we have porous borders that are grossly unprotected."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152212,00.html

[lemontree]

Does the US have a system of ID cards for people living nears borders with Mexico?

By walking the Mexicans can travel max of about 100 - 150 km in 3 days. They have to hit some border town along the US-Mexico border within that time.
I say 3 days, as that is the max one can travel on foot with rations and water to survive. Carrying weights beyond that is very tiring and would reduce walking speeds.

Is most of the US-Mexico border desert semi-mountainous?