Posted on 04/26/2006 12:53:08 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Laurie Lisonbee worried about illegal immigration but figured it was somebody else's issue _ until she saw hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marching across her TV screen.
Soon, Lisonbee had recruited several friends to attend a demonstration by the Minuteman Project, a volunteer group that patrols the border to keep out illegal immigrants. Now, the 51-year-old art professor checks the group's Web site daily and plans a summer trip to the Mexican border to help build a fence.
Minuteman organizers say this spring's marches have proved to be an unexpected recruitment tool for Americans who feel uneasy about the burgeoning immigration movement but may have considered the organization a pack of gun-toting vigilantes.
"We're not trying to be more mainstream _ mainstream has found us," said Stephen Eichler, the group's executive director. "They're saying, 'These guys actually have teeth, they don't all chew tobacco, they don't all have a gun rack in the back of their truck.' They're saying, `They believe what I believe,' and they're joining us."
Lisonbee, a registered Republican, said only one issue matters to her now.
"My vote will go to the candidate who's the toughest on immigration, whether they're Democrat or Republican," she said from her home in Orem, Utah. "Before, we were pretty much the types of people who would call our congressmen and not take to the streets. But that's all changed now."
The Minuteman Project first gained attention last year when Orange County resident and former tax accountant Jim Gilchrist helped lead its first 30-day patrol of the border in Arizona. The group has added mainstream political tools, including a network of local chapters and e-mail lobbying campaigns.
In December, Gilchrist, a former Republican, ran as a third-party candidate in a special House election in Orange County, Calif., finished a respectable third with 25 percent of the vote.
Since this spring's huge pro-immigrant rallies, 300 people nationwide have applied to start local chapters, according to Eichler. The group's goal is 500 chapters by December and a membership of 1 million within 1 1/2 years, Eichler said.
Eichler claimed the organization's membership has climbed to more than 200,000.
But Heidi Beirich, deputy director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which monitors the Minuteman Project for racist rhetoric, said that estimate appears to be ridiculously high. She offered no estimate of her own.
"At the border during this last outing, they had maybe 50 people. If they have 200,000 people, it doesn't seem right," she said.
Beirich also questioned the premise that pro-immigrant rallies will help the Minuteman Project. She said many recruits may attend one or two rallies, but leave after they discover what she called the group's extremist attitudes.
"They get in there and they're like, `My God, I didn't sign on for this,'" she said.
In the coming weeks, the Minuteman Project plans to set out in a caravan from Los Angeles to Washington, with stops in 13 cities, including President Bush's vacation haven of Crawford, Texas. It is also raising money to build a private fence along parts of the California-Mexico border.
Increased security along the border is a popular idea on Capitol Hill, where the immigration debate will soon resume. How to treat the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants now here is where Congress splits _ a House bill would criminalize the immigrants, a Senate bill would offer guest worker status and a potential path to citizenship.
David S. Meyer, a professor of sociology and political science at the University of California, Irvine, said the growing Minuteman movement has "stiffened the spine" of conservative politicians who might otherwise be wary of publicly identifying with the organization's views.
He said the recent workplace crackdown at a pallet manufacturer that resulted in 1,100 arrests at 40 U.S. sites was part of an attempt by the Bush administration to appease the Minuteman Project and its congressional supporters. Bush supports a guest worker program.
"The debate has kind of come to them, and they're clever enough politically to realize that," Meyer said. "People in mainstream politics who are not associated with the Minuteman Project are essentially voicing their position, which is a victory itself."
I would love to be there to give them a hearty Texas welcome.
Welcome to the party, pal.
I believe there are 120,000 and up "donors", and 4-8000 volunteers. On the border last Friday in AZ, we had 75-100 volunteers. We had at least 2 lines running, and there were 25 volunteers on my line.
More volunteers are need, but given the hardships involved, our numbers are respectable.
The GOP will be losing many votes over this.
"My vote will go to the candidate who's the toughest on immigration, whether they're Democrat or Republican,"
Me too. But that will probably be a Republican because the Dems want to give away the entire Country all at once. The Repubs want to do it incrementally.
"Before, we were pretty much the types of people who would call our congressmen and not take to the streets. But that's all changed now."
Why is that? Why do the leftists always getting their voices heard, while the reps are relegated to 'write your congressman'?
I say good for her. I only wish I lived near the border and was healthy enough to participate. I was just complaining elsewhere that I can find no group or organization, that is planning to counter on May 1. Not one.
Looks like the Minutemen, if they are located in this area, are going to be sandwiched in?
San Diego/Tijuana-1
INTERNATIONAL U.S./MEXICO BORDER
TIJUANA AND SAN DIEGO
PROTESTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER
FRONTERA INTERNACIONAL MEXICO ESTADOS UNIDOS
TIJUANA Y SAN DIEGO
PROTESTAS EN LOS DOS LADOS DE LA FRONTERA
TIJUANA SIDE:
From Las Brisas Shopping Center to the Gabacho (the U.S.) Consulate in Tijuana (behind Agua Caliente, Colonia Hipódromo)
Tijuana, Baja California
12 pm
We demand wages in the maquiladoras that respect the Mexican Constitution
No more than eight hours per shift
No more abuses and despotism in the maquiladoras
No more sexual harassment in the maquiladoras
No more poisoning chemicals in the maquiladoras
No more company unions in the maquiladoras
In solidarity with the National Great American Boycott of 2006 on the other side of the border
In solidarity with Mexicans who will strike at the other side of the border
Full rights for all immigrants in the US
On May 1st, don't buy in the US, don't cross the border, don't buy Gringo products
Don't buy at Costco, Sam's Club, Home Depot, McDonald's, Burger King, etc.
Protest at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana
Sponsored by the Zapatista Other Campaign (La Otra Campaña) in Tijuana
Another May First without borders, anti-capitalist, from the left and from the bottom
SAN DIEGO SIDE:
WHEN: San Diego May 1, 2006: Call to Action!
WHERE: The United States side will march from San Ysidro Community Park at 1:00 PM, go on a 2.8 mile triangular route, first to Larsen Park, then to the San Ysidro border. We will then return to the starting point for speeches, music, voter registration, cultural presentations and much, much more!
WHO: "March 25th Coalition against HR4437 San Diego" will join the "March 25th Coalition against HR4437 Los Angeles," the organizers of the mega march of almost 2 million on March 25th, in their efforts toward "El Gran Paro Americano 2006."
Nationwide Immigrant General Strike Wear White T-Shirt on May 1st!
San Diego/Tijuana (San Ysidro)-2
Location: 455 Sycamore Road
Time Begin: 12:00pm
Time End: 3:30pm
Contact Person: phone: Jazmin (english & spanish) - email: Chrissie (english) Norma (spanish)
Phone: (619) 274-0894
e-mail: may1stop@yahoo.com
Larson Park a.k.a Cesar Chavez Community Center is where we will begin the march (address above) We march for immigrants and workers right! We ask for amnesty and dignity for workers of this country!
ping
Hats off to the man that got the ball rolling!
Come on down.
http://www.areckoning.com/
Where do I send money?
I don't know if this is on topic or not but... Rush was saying today that maybe we already HAVE three parties in this country. Democrat, Republican, and Conservative. Really got me thinking. We MUST get and stay organized or they're going to pick us apart. If one day that turns into a political party, all the better.
www.minutemanhq.com
Count me in. I will be there.
Great! Bring a friend.
The outcome is as Alexander Tyler stated (Below)
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.
(I"d say we are in the apathy part today)
You don't have to counter the boycotters/protestors on May 1. You just have to go shopping and then eat out at your favorite restaurant. Having commerce going on as usual will show that the USA could do nicely without illegal aliens, thank you. I hope the Mexican gangs and assorted street thugs will also be boycotting their usual crimes on that day so the streets will be safer for the citizens.
Texas BTTT!
>>>Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project<<<
...which is sorely lacking any real intelligence.
"Southern Poverty Law Center's Utterly Ridiculous Propaganda For Idiots Project"?
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