US border volunteers on the rise, clashes feared 07 Aug 2005 18:45:59 GMT http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07279518.htm
Source: Reuters By Tim Gaynor CAMPO, California, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. civilian patrols out to spot illegal immigrants from Mexico and angry pro-immigrant activists could be headed for a bloody showdown on the U.S.-Mexico border, police say. The stage was set in April when hundreds of Minuteman Project volunteers, some of them armed, began tracking immigrants on the Arizona border, upsetting Mexico's 10-million-strong community in the United States. Tensions rose last week when the Texas chapter of the Brown Berets, a Mexican-American group that was allied to the revolutionary U.S. Black Panther Party in the 1960s, said it would confront the Minutemen when they patrol there in October. This weekend, some 100 protesters gathered in this sun-baked ranching community southeast of San Diego to see off volunteers from the California Minutemen, which broke away from the Arizona-based Minuteman Project, with chants of "racists go home." Last month protesters here jostled the volunteers, some of whom are armed with knives, pistols and rifles. This time the border watchers kept a low profile and a clash was avoided. Police in Campo say they remain concerned that violence could erupt. "When you have a near-riot situation, you really don't want people having guns," Campo sheriff's station commander Mike Radovich said. "It has real potential for violence." The patrol in Campo ends on Monday. But next month, another California group called Friends of the Border Patrol plans to deploy people, and in October Minuteman Project volunteers are set to conduct surveillance across all four states flanking the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border with Mexico. FIREARMS, BASEBALL BATS U.S. President George W. Bush has called the border volunteers "vigilantes," and many in Mexico denounce them as "migrant hunters." But they are allowed to watch for illegal immigrants and tip off security forces as long as they break no laws. The Minutemen have chapters in 25 U.S. states and have drawn up a standard operating procedure that they say aims to weed out potential troublemakers and ensures volunteers obey the law. But the California Minutemen, a splinter group organized by retired postal worker Jim Chase, are not bound by the procedure. The group has sent e-mails to volunteers encouraging them to bring firearms, baseball bats and machetes to the Campo stakeout for self-defense. A leader of the Minuteman Project, which takes its name from a militia in the American Revolution, says he fears that any violence by rivals could wipe out political gains made by the movement since April. "We have finally become the 800-pound gorilla in Washington D.C., but all that will be thrown out the window if anyone screws up," Minuteman founder Chris Simcox said in a telephone interview. Activists in Campo, including the Border Angels migrant welfare group and rights group "Gente Unida," or People United, say they will step up their protests. "They are racist vigilantes who represent the worst of the American spirit," Border Angels coordinator Enrique Morones said. "We're going to be back and we're going to be bigger." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- (c) 1998-2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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