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DOBBS: Tonight, new developments in the Minuteman Project, the project that brought volunteers, hundreds of them, together in Arizona, to help patrol our southern border with Mexico, you know, the same group of volunteers who Mexican President Vicente Fox called vigilantes and whom President George Bush also referred to as vigilantes, unfortunately.

The volunteer group today said it is planning now a major expansion along our southern border, and it plans to begin monitoring our northern border, as well. The Minutemen are also launching a new operation to expose U.S. companies hiring illegal aliens. Casey Wian has our report. Casey?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, it's really a remarkable announcement today of an expansion of the Minuteman Project that's a result of the project overwhelming success, that even succeeds the expectation of its founders. Let me tell you some numbers we just got from the Minuteman Project today.

So far, as of today, 770 minuteman volunteers have been trained by the project's organizers and monitor the border for at least one full day's shift. They say they've had over 10,000 calls and e-mails from people interested in volunteering to help monitor this 23-mile stretch of Arizona border. They also say the Minutemen have assisted in 280 apprehensions of illegal aliens along that stretch of the border. Now, the Border Patrol of course denies those numbers saying they are inflated. But it does not deny the fact that the Minutemen have in effect shut down that stretch of the Arizona border by their mere presence.

What is going to happen now is, Chris Simcox, one of the founders and organizers of the Minuteman Project, when the it -- when the project in Arizona ends at the end of this month, Simcox will begin consulting with organizers in California, Texas, and New Mexico to set up a Minuteman Project for the entire southern border, and they expect that to be operational by this fall. Perhaps in October. And another expansion of the program, northward. They have volunteers in Michigan and Idaho who are also interested in monitoring the Canadian border and that could begin even sooner because Simcox says the volunteers don't need as much training because the Canadian border is not as violent as the Mexican border. Also, Jim Gilchrist, one of the other co-founders of the Minuteman Project is going to be leaving active duty in Arizona to begin, as you mentioned, Lou, concentrating on employers who hire illegal aliens. He's going to be organizing protests -- something he has shown with the Minuteman Project he's very good at -- organizing protests against employers of illegal aliens, and he's going to be after cities who sponsor day laborer centers which, of course, are overwhelmingly populated by a majority of illegal aliens. He's going to be traveling to Washington, D.C. next week to meet with the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. That at the invitation of Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo who has sent the Minuteman Project a letter of congratulations saying, job well done so far. Lou?

DOBBS: You know, it's absolutely right, Casey. I had the opportunity to spend a little time down there with you along the border with the Minutemen. The success is remarkable. What is the reaction of Chris Simcox and Gilchrist and others, because they have -- basically, were vilified in the weeks and months leading up to this project. They have obviously conducted themselves extremely well. It's a terrific group of concerned, caring Americans. What's they're reaction now, that they're succeeding and some of the rhetoric about them is tapering off a bit?

WIAN: Well, as you know I've spent a lot of time with Chris Simcox and Jim Gilchrist over the past several months -- the preparations leading up to the Minuteman Project, and then throughout the project so far this month. And before it began things were tense. They were very, I will say, stressed out. Very worried how things were going to go. Now it has shifted to overwhelming joy. They're thrilled. They feel vindicated. And that's reflected by the fact they are taking the project national -- Lou.

DOBBS: And demonstrating to a national audience the importance that remains in this country of citizens participating actively in their community, and being certainly an active -- about the issues that are great concern to them and, of course, importance to the country and certainly this is a high among those issues.

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