The Minutemen

Chris Simcox, organizer of the Minuteman Project, addressed the Eagle Forum National Council this past weekend in St. Louis. While I have paid some attention to the Minutemen, I was amazed at what I heard from Mr. Simcox: The government has failed to secure our borders in an egregious way.

Mr. Simcox first became interested in the border issue during an extended hike through a park in southern Arizona. He describes in the story a close encounter with several illegal border crossers.

"I heard the noise of many footsteps. Now, I was way out in the middle of a park, and I knew it wasn't the Boy Scouts, so I ducked behind a rock. A group of almost 70 Mexicans with backpacks came walking through. During the three days I was there, I saw almost 350 people crossing the border including caravans of trucks escorted by heavily armed Mexican paramilitary. I went to the park ranger and asked, 'who are these people?' He replied, 'Those are just illegal migrants looking for a better life. And the others are drug traffickers. Just don't bother them and you'll be ok."

That was three years ago. Now, Mr. Simcox has helped organize a citizen's effort to help the border patrol in securing the border. Contrary to the liberal medic's portrayal of this project, the Minutemen are not vigilantes. Most of the 879 concerned citizens who stationed themselves on the border sat in lawn chairs with a cell phone and binoculars. Spaced out at static observation points every 2 miles, they reduced attempted border crossings by 64% over a 27 mile stretch of Arizona border.

Mr. Simcox himself is a stark contrast to the redneck-shotgun-toting-Billy Bob that the media describes him as. Dressed in a white button down, his clean-shaven face showed the mentality of a concerned father of his two children.

For those who may think I am misportraying the media, all of the students in my speech and debate class today at the SRJC said the Minutemen were "vigilantes" and "taking the law into their own hands." However, none of them have taken the time to actually research this citizens group. I've met Chris, and I can say the Minuteman Project is an excellent organization.