(no subject)

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

This is a home-made press release from my brother regarding some of the volunteer efforts he's been participating in on the CA/Mexico border (the only reason you can tell it's home-made is most professionally-crafted press releases don't use terms like "whack-jobs"). Someone here recently expressed interest in the Minute Man Project, which is now apparently defunct as such. The volunteers that continue to help man the fence at Campo are now on their own, and Jim asked me to post this here since they're currently searching for funds to replace those that were previously coming in through the MMP website.

Anyone who's interested in reading or contributing may

Tom McMullen (Retired USMC Force Recon) and Britt Craig (Retired US Army
officer) both have been living at the fence for just shy of 10 months,
beginning in July of last year. Britt Craig is retired on full disability,
and thus is self sufficient. Tom McMullen quit his job and saved up his
own money to come down and work at the fence. Since last year he has been
kept going with equipment and supplies by donations through the California
Minutemen websites which are no longer administrated. He also inherited
the infamous "Godzilla" camoflaged 4x4 CUCV truck, which he literally
lives in.

Due to the recent political drama with a few well-funded whackjobs who had
been helping get public donations to Tom and the guys at the fence, he no
longer has a cell phone or consistent income of donations.

Tom and Britt have both decided to stay at the fence as long as possible.
They still attract crews of around 15-20 people to work on the weekends,
and about half that during the week. They cover a roughly 8 mile sector of
border to assist the US Border Patrol in Campo and El Cajon sectors.

Campo was at one time a veritable freeway of human smuggling and a
moderate amount of drugs, with just one of our patrol stations seeing
around 100 illegals a day, for example. Today, Campo sector gets maybe one
group of 15-20 illegals attempting to cross on a weekend night; but they
see our patrols and thus far have consistently turned back or gone
elsewhere.

Campo is just east of San Diego and one of California's largest corridors.
We have a good working relationship with the Border Patrol, and they are
glad to accept our help.

Tom and Britt are essentially in charge of any volunteers in Campo due to
their seniority, but they gladly welcome assistance from anyone wishing to
help with the cause. Since California Minutemen no longer exists as a
volunteer entity, we're all on our own now. As such, we need all the help
we can get.

** If you would like to help:

All dontations are to go to T.S. McMullen or Britt Craig P.O. box
681, Campo,Ca. 91906. American Express or U.S. post office money orders
are the best way, personnal checks next and cash wrapped in notebook paper
last.
Questions about donations/operations/supplies can be emailed to Tom at
warfighter@earthlink.net, he has access to email at the border.

** If you would like to volunteer any of your time, a day, a week, an hour:

Take I-5 South to Highway 94 (Martin Luther King hwy) EAST, follow Hwy 94
RIGHT through the intersection at Rancho San Diego, at the end of the
mountain highway section, go RIGHT on FOREST GATE ROAD when you hit the
fork. Drive past the Border Patrol station and onto the dirt road, get to
the Border Fence, look for American flags and turn your FRS/GMRS radios to
Channel 6 and ask for Bandit (Tom) or Kingfish (Craig) and they will
direct you.

If you would like to help, please bear these things in mind:

- CA Legal firearms may be carried OPENLY at the fence.
- Border road in Campo is passable by most any vehicle, though SUVs,
trucks and 4WD vehicles will be able to cross the canyons and rough
terrain around the eastern stations.
- FRS/GMRS radio is required to communicate.
- Cell phone required to contact Border Patrol when calling in a sighting.
- Temperatures drop to around 40ºF with 15-20mph winds and chilling fog at
night.
- Winds upwards of 15mph and temperatures upwards of 80ºF during the day
with around 70% humidity.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for any support you choose to provide.

---

B. Craig
T.S. McMullen
J. Herring

Comments

[maidenjedi]

The MMP isn't totally defunct: http://www.minutemanproject.com/default.asp?contentID=23

Tell your brother thank you for what he's doing!

[sabbrielle.livejournal.com]

Second'd.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm kind of confused, myself, about the exact status of its defunct...ness? itude? Anyway. *cough* Apparently the gentleman who is currently heading the project (now that the original founders are mostly non-present for various reasons) is pulling the project's funding from the actual volunteer border patrol people. Presumably he's applying said funding elsewhere, though it seems to me that the actual border watch is the most direct application available. Not that I know a lot. :)

I was the one who posted recently re: Minuteman Project

[planetcrush.livejournal.com]

This is the email I received today from them (posted in 2 parts due to frickin' character limits).

Pt. 1


Minuteman ALERT –
Breaking news on US betrayal of Minuteman Patrols

US agency reports legal citizen activity to a foreign power. – WHY?

U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3799653

While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen -- and telling the Mexican government where they are.

According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants -- and if and when violence is used against border crossers.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants' rights are being observed.

"It's not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be," Mario Martinez said Monday.

"This ... simply makes two basic statements -- that we will not allow any lawlessness of any type, and that if an alien is encountered by a Minuteman or arrested by the Minuteman, then we will allow that government to interview the person."

Minuteman members were not so sanguine about the arrangement, however, saying that reporting their location to Mexican officials nullifies their effectiveness along the border and could endanger their lives.

"Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time," said Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "It's unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country. They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels.

"They just basically endangered the lives of American people."

Officials with the Mexican consulate in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment Monday.

Martinez said reporting the location of immigrant apprehensions to consulate representatives is common practice if an illegal immigrant requests counsel or believes they have been mistreated.

"Once an illegal alien is apprehended, they can request counsel," he said. "We have to give their counsel the information about their apprehension, and that includes where they are apprehended, whether a Minuteman volunteer spotted them or a citizen."

Martinez said Mexico's official perception of the civilian groups is that they are vigilantes, a belief the Border Patrol hoped to allay by entering into the cooperative agreement.

One of the documents on the Web site, "Actions of the Mexican Government in Relation to the Activities of Vigilante Groups," states that Mexican consulate representatives stay in close contact with Border Patrol chiefs to ensure the safety of migrants trying to enter the U.S., those being detained and the actions of all "vigilantes" along the border.

"The Mexican consul in Presidio also contacted the chief of the Border Patrol in the Marfa Sector to solicit his cooperation in case they detect any activity of `vigilantes,' and was told to immediately contact the consulate if there was," according to the document.

"Presidio" refers to Presidio County, Texas, which is in the Big Bend region and a gateway to northern Mexico.

The document also describes a meeting with San Diego Border Patrol sector chief Darryl Griffen.

"(Griffen) said that the Border Patrol will not permit any violence or any actions contrary to the law by the groups, and he is continuously aware of (the volunteer organizations') operations," according to the document. "Mr. Griffen reiterated to the undersecretary his promise to notify the General Consul right away when the vigilantes detain or participate in the detention of any undocumented Mexicans."

The documents specifically named the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and its patrols, which began monitoring Arizona's southern border in April 2005, as well as Friends of the Border Patrol, a Chino-based nonprofit.

Part 2 of Minuteman Project email

[planetcrush.livejournal.com]

Part 2

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing more than 10,000 Border Patrol agents, said agents have complained for years about the Mexican consulate's influence over the agency.

"It worries me (that the Mexican government) seems to be unduly influencing our enforcement policies. That's not a legitimate role for any foreign nation," Bonner said, though he added, "It doesn't surprise me."

Border Patrol agents interviewed by the Daily Bulletin said they have been asked to report to sector headquarters the location of all civilian volunteer groups, but to not file the groups' names in reports if they spot illegal immigrants.

"Last year an internal memo notified all agents not to give credit to Minuteman volunteers or others who call in sightings of illegal aliens," said one agent, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. "We were told to list it as a citizen call and leave it at that. Many times, we were told not to go out to Minuteman calls."

The document also mentions locations of field operations of Friends of the Border Patrol, which patrolled the San Diego sector from June to November 2005. Mexican officials had access to the exact location of the group founded by Andy Ramirez, which ran its patrols from the Rough Acre Ranch, a private property in McCain Valley.

Ramirez said that for safety reasons, he disclosed the location of his ranch patrol only to San Diego Border Patrol and law enforcement officials. The group did not apprehend or spot any undocumented migrants in that area.

"We did not release this information ... to the media or anyone else," Ramirez said. "We didn't want to publicize that information. But there it is, right on the Mexican government's Web site, and our government gave it to them."

[phangurl.livejournal.com]

the volunteer efforts he's been participating in on the CA/Mexico border

I ask this in all sincerity:

Is there any particular reason why the MinuteMen (as well as the press and all the politicians) haven't been concentrating on the US/Canada border where thousands upon thousands of Canadians come here year after year to work illegally in jobs that Americans really do want?

Is there a reason why the MinuteMen aren't patrolling the waters between Florida and the Bahamas/ Jamaica/ Haiti?

In Miami, we have a HUGE HUGE problem of illegal Caribbean non-Cubans working here and, frankly, upping the crime ratio, and there are entire neighborhoods that are mostly comprised of illegal Russians and Canadians.

I just really wonder why no one is making a big stink about that, too.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Well, in the case of the Minute Men I know, it's a function of geography. Campo is just south of here, and volunteering at the border there is a practical possibility. Canada and the Florida coast not so much. As far as the rest of the organization is concerned, I have no idea. I'm not really involved with them, though my brother and his fiance were. At this time, from what I hear, the Minute Men are not patrolling any borders. The volunteers at Campo, if I understand correctly, have been told that they are no longer under the auspices of the MMP.

Sorry I can't give you any more information than that. You might try e-mailing one of the contacts on the MMP website for answers to your question, I gather that they're pretty good about responding to queries.

[phangurl.livejournal.com]

Thank you. The underlying point of my questions was, though, why the focus has ALWAYS been keeping Mexicans, and only Mexicans, out of the US. Even when the Minute Men were patrolling borders and the volunteers at Campo *were* in the US. And from what I understand, people traveled hundreds of miles to be a part of the effort. Some of them even came from Florida. So one has to wonder what the criteria was in choosing the priorities there. At least, I do. If something is wrong for one group of people, then it's wrong for everyone and the consequences should be equally applied.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

I would certainly agree with you that the problem with all illegal immigrants is that they are illegal. This would seem to go without saying, but perhaps this is not the case in practice.

You may make whatever guesses or draw whatever conclusions you like about why Mexicans are allegedly singled out on a national level. I really would not be able to speak to the issue, lacking, as I do, familiarity with the problem of illegal immigration from Russia/Canada/Cuba/etc. I'm only familiar with the problem of illegal immigration from Mexico, because that is where the vast majority of illegal immigrants here in CA come from. This is not to say that I do not care about illegal immigration and the problems it causes in other parts of the country, only that I'm unfamiliar with the specifics outside my own experience, and so wouldn't be able to discuss them in anything approaching a useful or informative manner.

[phangurl.livejournal.com]

I totally understand, thank you for your responses. =) I was more like putting these ideas out there, not just trying to poke holes in your post or anything. It's definitely something worth looking into. (Illegal immigration from Cuba is very difficult relative to illegal immigration from Russia, Canada and the rest of the Caribbean btw, just because it's so darn hard to get out of Cuba in the first place.)

I just think it stands to reason that if there's going to be some kind of effort to put a stop to illegal immigration, that effort needs to be applied fairly to *all* illegal immigration, not just one group of immigrants, because, well, then there's fodder for the so-called "whining" occurring about the Mexican crackdown because it easily looks like (and in some cases may very well be) an unfair focus. The solution to that is to crack down on all illegal immigration equally, but it doesn't seem to be happening, or even being considered in some circles.

[phangurl.livejournal.com]

I would also like to add that as a right-leaning Libertarian, I LOLed at this part of the press release:

Britt Craig is retired on full disability, and thus is self sufficient.

Er, no, Britt Craig is 100% taxpayer-money dependent. That's not self sufficient. You have to love the irony of a man who lives entirely off government subsidies trying to prevent others from coming in here on the alibi that they might try to do the same.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

I totally understand, thank you for your responses. =) I was more like putting these ideas out there

No problem, I'm sorry I'm not more helpful. :) And sorry if I was attempting to answer what was not, in the first place, a question.

I just think it stands to reason that if there's going to be some kind of effort to put a stop to illegal immigration, that effort needs to be applied fairly to *all* illegal immigration

In the case of government efforts, I would totally agree. Unfortunately there hasn't been much of anything in the way of government efforts on this front, and in response you have private organizations like the MMP that start up. In the case of private orgs, I don't think the responsibility to "apply pressure evenly" as it were, still holds. In the case of the MMP, for instance, I believe (and I am speaking from very vague memory, here, so I could be wrong) that it was an effort primarily made on the part of people here in CA, AZ and other states affected directly by illegal immigration from Mexico. I do recall hearing that volunteers came from much further away, and I would be interested to know what their motivations were for doing so, when they could have remained closer to home and set up similar efforts to combat the illegal immigration problems affecting them and their neighbors. Perhaps to show support for the cause, since there haven't (as far as I know) been similar private orgs set up elsewhere?