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Group rips Bush gag on border surveys Billy House Republic Washington Bureau Jun. 29, 2005 12:00 AM WASHINGTON - A White House-approved gag order was imposed on U.S. Border Patrol agents regarding information that President Bush's "temporary guest worker" proposal inspired more illegal border crossings from Mexico, a group charged Tuesday . The non-profit conservative Judicial Watch said it had acquired and analyzed government documents showing that in the weeks after Bush announced his proposal on Jan. 7, 2004, as many as 45 percent of those caught arriving illegally from Mexico told agents they believed Bush was offering an amnesty...

June 2, 2005 For Immediate Release BORDER PATROL UNION DENOUNCES WITCH HUNT OF FRONT-LINE AGENTS The recent press release from the Office of Special Counsel alleging the numerous front-line Border Patrol agents temporarily assigned to Arizona "engaged in extensive kickback and fraudulent reimbursement schemes" is extremely misleading and unfairly implies corruption where none exists. These so-called "kickback" amounted to nothing more than the acceptance of free meals in conjunction with lodging, a common and legitimate practice in the hotel industry. In an attempt to compete with some of the amenities offered by hotels within the commuting area, such as free...

PUBLISHED ON JUNE 2, 2005: Catastrophe in Care Hospitals are being crippled by the costs of treating migrants--and that could be just the start of an immigrant-related health crisis By LEO W. BANKS One of the many signs on the Naco Highway. If you drive along Southern Arizona's border with Mexico long enough, you might see a lone illegal wandering the desert. Or maybe he's hunched at the roadside sipping water from his milk jug. What's he doing there, and where are his compatriots, the people he broke into the country with? The uninformed might ask those questions, but those...

Web site told to stop encouraging harassment of Minuteman project Associated Press May. 17, 2005 07:10 AM An Internet company will force one of its Web site clients to stop encouraging harassment of the Minutemen project that cracks down on illegal immigrants along the Arizona border. The Scottsdale-based Go Daddy Group said the Swarmtheminuteman.com site, which has been on the Web for less than one week, could face being shut down unless it complies. Swarmtheminutemen.com reportedly is encouraging people to go into the desert border areas to blast their radios or bang pots and pans together in an effort to...

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIO BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY AND CLAIMS COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE NEW “DUAL MISSIONS” OF THE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES PRESENTED BY T.J. BONNER NATIONAL PRESIDENT MAY 5, 2005 The National Border Patrol Council thanks the Subcommittee for the opportunity to present the views and concerns of the 10,000 front-line Border Patrol employees that it represents regarding the expanded mission of the agencies responsible for enforcing immigration laws. Even before the creation of the Department...

Peter Busch ReportsCongressman says Border Patrol defying checkpoint laws May 2, 2005, 01:34 PM MST On Capitol Hill last Thursday, The U.S. Border Patrol's head man, David Aguilar, told U.S. senators that permanent checkpoints in the Tucson sector would help his agents catch more illegal immigrants. The sector is the only one along the U.S.- Mexico border not permitted to establish permanent checkpoints. Congressman Jim Kolbe wants to keep it that way. "I don't object to checkpoints. The idea of tactical, mobile checkpoints, that move from place to place just like we do all law enforcement, makes sense," says Kolbe....

Military's use on the border expands BY BILL HESS Thursday, April 21, 2005 5:37 PM MDT Herald/Review NACO, Ariz. - Military units are now allowed to do more along the U.S.-Mexico border, which includes helping to spot illegal immigrants, a spokesman for Joint Task Force North said. Earlier this year, a Stryker unit from Alaska deployed to New Mexico, where it provided ground surveillance and reconnaissance that led to the apprehension of "a number" of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers, Armando Carrasco said Tuesday. But, he said, the unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq and needed training in a...

Much ACLU about Nothing April 20, 2005 The flap erupting today over Sean Hannity’s visit to the Mexican border is proof that ACLU observers bird-dogging the Minutemen Project are pursuing an agenda. That agenda is to point the finger at conservative, law-abiding American patriots. On Tuesday evening, with a worldwide audience watching on the Hannity & Colmes television program, radio and television personality Sean Hannity and Chris Simcox, a co-director of the Minutemen Project from Tombstone, walked up to a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border. When they came upon a ruptured area of fence, Hannity ducked underneath the fence and...

KFYI is Reporting: CHARGES HAVE BEEN DROPPED against Army reservist Patrick Haab who was accused of holding a group of illegals at gunpoint.

Border agents approve of 'Minutemen' Posted: April 21, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Through the years politicians, lawyers and advocacy groups have overseen the implementation of policies that grant illegal aliens more rights to sneak into the country than rights given to Border Patrol agents charged with keeping them out. Needless to say, that has led to a level of frustration, anger and resentment within BP ranks that is virtually unparalleled in terms of federal service. This month, however, a fortunate few of them have been given a temporary reprieve, and receiving much-needed assistance to do the jobs...

Crews make improvements while getting training BY BILL HESS Wednesday, April 20, 2005 12:38 PM MDT Herald/Review NACO, Ariz. - East Coast soldiers are working in the Southwest to strengthen the border fence separating this community and Naco, Sonora, Mexico. Soldiers from two engineering units, one at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the other from Fort Benning, Ga., are constructing low-water crossings, improving a road along the international boundary and erecting steel fences east and west of the Naco Port of Entry. To the west of the port are 27 members of the Assault and Barrier Platoon of Headquarters Company of...

House approves letting local police enforce immigration law PHOENIX The Arizona House approved a proposal today to give state and local police the power to enforce federal immigration laws. Supporters sat the proposal is needed because the federal government isn't doing enough about the thousands of people who sneak across the border each year. They say police departments need to get rid of "sanctuary policies" that, in some cases, discourage or prohibit officers from inquiring about a person's immigration status. Many local police agencies in Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the nation's porous southern border, don't want the...

Minuteman founder leaving border early but volunteers to remain By Arthur H. Rotstein ASSOCIATED PRESS 1:32 p.m. April 18, 2005 TUCSON, Ariz. – The chief organizer of civilian volunteers who are spending the month watching for illegal immigrants and smugglers along the Mexican border is pulling out of the Minuteman Project early, a project official said Monday. Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant from California, will leave Arizona on Wednesday and plans to appear before the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus next week in Washington. He will be taking the official Minuteman Project name and a group of volunteers. "He is claiming...

MINUTEMAN PROJECT: We want to make it clear because we've had a lot of questions about this.....we have not had one single complaint from a rank-and-file agent in this Sector about the Minutemen. Every report we've received indicates these people are very supportive of the rank-and-file agents, they're courteous, many of them are retired firefighters, cops, and other professionals, and they're not causing us any problems whatsoever. Reports of them causing "ground sensors" to go off are exaggerated because most of those are being set off by the ACLU sneaking around trying to find the Minutemen doing something wrong. The...

This week in Washington Congressman Charlie Norwood, 9th District, Georgia April 8, 2005 The Miracle on the Southwest Border: Illegal Immigration Smashed A Direct Field Report on the Arizona-Mexico No-Man’s Land April 4, 2005: The Arizona border with Sonora outside NacoBy Congressman Charlie Norwood An on-going miracle is occurring this month in America’s Southwest, a miracle with a direct impact on our district. After decades of being told that it is impossible to stop illegal immigration on the Arizona border, it has been all but halted since April 1 through the very means we were told wouldn’t work –...

Eyewitness report from the Arizona/Mexico border from two Minuteman volunteers Jack & Barb April 12, 2005 Didn’t go out on the line today. We just did some odd jobs around the camp, whatever needed doing, until time to go to work in the communications center from 4P to 8P. At 8P went on duty at the main gate until midnight. Not as cold tonight as it has been thank God. It sure was cold Saturday and Sunday at night. Thought we were back in Washington State. Very quiet night at the gate. Not much traffic. Just Minutemen coming and going...

Woman says illegal tried to run her off road with vehicle By Bill Hess Herald/Review SIERRA VISTA -- A local woman says an illegal immigrant driving a vehicle tried to force her off a road earlier this week. And she has asked Cochise County authorities to press charges. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said she was nearly driven off Hereford Road by someone who was transporting other illegals. Cochise County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Carol Capas said the woman filed a complaint about the incident. The woman followed the driver of the vehicle, who allegedly tried...

Eyewitness report from the Arizona/Mexico border from two Minuteman volunteers Jack & Barb April 9, 2005 Wind is really strong today. Blew over one of the porta-pots they put out in the field for the tenters to use. It was very strong out on the line for the time we were there. Lots of new people came in today. Some to stay the weekend and some for a week or more. It is encouraging to see new people arrive every day. We received an official BP report today. Only 74 aliens arrested yesterday where normally there are hundreds. In the...

Aliens hide from patrols in canyons By Jerry Seper THE WASHINGTON TIMES SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. -- Several hundred illegal aliens are holed up in the canyons of the Coronado National Memorial here, six miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, unable to meet up with smugglers because of ongoing patrols by Minuteman Project volunteers. Cindy Kolb, who has lived in the area for the past six years, yesterday told The Washington Times that she saw about 300 aliens "huddled in the brush" near her home, waiting to come down the wide, brush-covered washes that cross State Highway 92 to be picked...

Nine days of blockade has begun to result in desperation. We believe 500-700 illegals and their coyotes are bottled up in the Huachuca Mountains at present. They are running out of food and water. We have also figured out the system used here for putting out food and water caches and have been routinely using them to add some variety to our dogs’ diets. Our canine companions are most appreciative. A recap of last night’s action: several Minuteman were almost run down by a fleeing load vehicle last night. Fellow LePer idratherbe painting is now on the injured reserve list...