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Who are the Minutemen?
By Ron Lee
Investigative Reporter
Jim Gilchrist, an ex-Marine from California, formed the Minuteman Project to enforce the laws of immigration in our border states. According to the Minuteman HQ web site, “The Minuteman Project is made up of more than 1,000 patriotic Americans of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. We are, variously, of European, Jewish, American Indian, Hispanic, African and other backgrounds; consequently, we are multi-racial and multi-ethnic. Eight of our participants are married to immigrants, and 16 are themselves immigrants.
The topic of illegal immigration is not about race, it is about breaking the law. When a foreign national crosses our borders or overstays a visa, it is against the law, and the lawbreaker is in fact an illegal alien. It does not matter whether the illegal alien is green, blue, or purple; the issue is one of law enforcement, not race.”
They go on to explain that the Minuteman Project is “not a call to arms, but a call to voices seeking a peaceful and respectable resolve to the chaotic neglect by members of our local, state and federal governments charged with applying U.S. immigration law. It is a call to bring national awareness to the decades-long careless disregard of effective U.S. immigration law enforcement. It is a reminder to Americans that our nation was founded as a nation governed by the ‘rule of law’, not by the whims of mobs of ILLEGAL aliens who endlessly stream across U.S. borders.”
Even government officials acknowledge that the project has made an impact and the Minuteman organization plans to continue with its operations along the border states. The Minuteman Project has even been praised for thwarting an atempt by Al-Jazeera, the muslim news agency that has ties to Osama bin Laden, to report on the unprotected conditions of the U.S. southern border.
In a statement made by Chris Simcox, founder of the Minteman Civil Defense Corps, regarding Al-Jazeera he said, “if Al-Jazeera wants to know about the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps or the condition of our porous borders they can do a Google search. I will not assist them in their recon efforts in any manner whatsoever … Personally, I’ll have no part in aiding and abetting the enemy, and will continue to work to protect our country from terrorists who are clearly looking at our unsecured borders as the pathway to destroy America.”
Even though they have the popular support of many Americans, the Minuteman Project could use many more volunteers. In a recent letter from Gilchrist to the American public, “Reinforcements are needed in Campo, Ca. immediately to support Jim Chase’s California Minutemen, who have deployed for border observation and reporting activities from July 16 through at least August 7 (and beyond).”
To volunteer or donate, go to: minutemanhq.com/hq.
