Mexican migrant activists brace for Arizona anti-migrant patrols as Mexican goverment plans legal action
By: Associated Press | ∞
MONTERREY, Mexico -- While the Mexican government develops plans for legal action against civilian patrols expected to descend on the Arizona-Mexico border in April, activists said Tuesday they will show migrants how to avoid the volunteers.
The Minuteman Project, headed by Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and Vietnam War veteran, has recruited nearly 500 volunteers from across the United States to patrol the Arizona border for illegal migrants.
The volunteers plan to patrol an 83-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border from the ground and air throughout April, when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks.
Francisco Loureira, a migrant rights activist who manages a shelter in Nogales, across from Nogales, Arizona, said he plans to distribute maps alerting migrants to the presence of the volunteers.
"The least we can do is prevent them from crossing where these anti-migrant people will be," Loureira said.
Loureiro said he is bracing for overcrowding at his shelter and it's already looking for food donation since he expects to see twice as many people in April.
On Monday, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Mexico is working with lawyers in Los Angeles to outline a legal challenge to the Minuteman project.
"We're simply presenting the reasons that lead us to believe (theirs) is an incorrect and illegal action not only from the point of view of our government but also according to U.S. law," Derbez said.
Derbez said the Mexican government will use all the legal means at his disposal to protect the rights of Mexican migrants, adding that the Minuteman project will be one of the issues he'll discuss with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on her March 10 visit to Mexico.
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James wrote on May 13, 2006 10:48 AM:The time has come to completly put a stop to illegal mexicans crossing the U.S. Border by building a wall or fence which is heavily patorlled. Amnesty for illegal mexicans living "illegally" in the U.S. is pure insanity. The government declared anmesty many years ago for the illegal mexicans in the U.S. once already. Do you think that the mexican people had any respect for this or U.S. Law whatsoever? of course not, they just kept coming across ILLEGALLY into the U.S. I hope that not even 1 illegal mexican in the U.S. gets amnesty. It will never matter what you do to try and help mexicans, they will always disrespect U.S. Law and try to illegally cross into America. Who the hell do they think they are demanding U.S. citizenship?????? The U.S. Government better wise up, cause the majority or the REAL U.S. Citizens do not want illegal mexicans in our country, nor do we want them to have amnesty.
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