The Return Of The "Minutemen".

AP via Yahoo News

The Minuteman have returned, and this time, they are on border control.

Volunteers are dragging out their lawn chairs, binoculars, and cell phones in hopes of "raising awareness" about the border problem. I bet some of the guys were disappointed that they didn't get to bring their guns, too.

A year after their first watch-and-report operation along the border in southeastern Arizona, members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps embarked on a much larger effort in this state's busy migrant-smuggling corridor.

"I'm concerned about what's not being done by the government -- hasn't been done for ages, apparently," said J. Glenn Sorensen, a retired school administrator now living in Flagstaff.

Sorensen, who was not involved last year, said he thinks the organization has already accomplished part of its purpose, "to draw national attention to an insecure border. I don't think anybody wants to close the border -- I certainly don't. Basically, I think they need to be secure."

No one in the group had any illusions about their campaign's effectiveness, since it targets a relatively short section of the border for just a month. However, it comes at a time when Congress is debating changes to federal immigration laws, which have drawn supporters of legitimizing illegal immigrants to demonstrations across the country.

"This is like sticking a finger in the dike," said Ken Raymond, a retired electrical engineer and airplane mechanic from Tucson.

Funniest statement I've ever read!

Some immigrants were apprehended. Minutemen volunteers in New Mexico alerted the Border Patrol to a group of immigrants Saturday.

"We hadn't been on the line more than 30 minutes when we spotted our first group of seven," said Bob Wright, director of the state's Minuteman group.

For some reason, I keep getting images of this old episode of Cops with this neighborhood militia who was so damn proud that they'd caught a criminal, but the "criminal" turned out to be a guy who lived in the neighborhood who was having a seizure because he was without his medication. Huh.

And this...just wow.

Don Goldwater, a Republican candidate for Arizona governor, said he had a message for President Bush.

"Build us that wall -- now!" Goldwater said, referring to a measure that would add 700 miles of fences along the border. He promised that if elected, he would put illegal immigrants in a tent city on the border and use their labor to build the wall. Goldwater is a nephew of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater.

Yikes.

I hope Washington decides...whatever in the hell they are going to decide soon because the situation is getting really nasty.

Tags: [Minutemen], [return of the Minutemen], [border patrol], [immigration issue], [illegal immigrants problem], [protests], [protesting over Sensenbrenner's bill], [Sensenbrenner]