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April 01, 2009
Border Patrol: Minutemen Are Disruptive
While yesterday the Minuteman Project gave the first of what we can only expect to be several successful reports on their efforts, today, the Border Patrol is complaining.
Volunteers who have converged on the Mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants are disrupting U.S. Border Patrol operations by unwittingly tripping sensors that alert agents to possible intruders, agency officials complained Monday.Scores of participants in the Minuteman Project began assembling late last week and clusters of volunteers began regular patrols Monday, in an exercise some law enforcement authorities and civil rights groups fear will result in vigilante violence. Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet, and some planned to be armed.
Over the past few days, they have set off sensors, forcing agents to respond to false alarms, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda.
This all just seems strange to me. After all, if the Border Patrol was adequately doing their job, the Minuteman Project would have been instantly obsolete. The fact that the Minuteman Project ever came to exist is clearly indicative that the Border Patrol is in need of major reform. If the Border Patrol is upset they are responding false alarms, but the question is, were they ever sufficiently responding to the legitimate alarms?
"Now we not only have to look out for aliens and drug smugglers, now we have to look out for these untrained civilians who are unfamiliar with the landscape," Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame said.Adame said apprehension numbers have gone down since the volunteers arrived, an indication fewer people might be trying to cross. But he also noted the Mexican military and police have apparently been conducting an operation south of the border town of Naco, which tends to drive down crossings.
"No one's crossing and that was the goal, to show the government that if we have people out here no one's going to cross," said Chris Simcox, Minuteman field operations director.
Posted by Aaron at April 1, 2009 12:00 AM
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-->Comments
Re: "If the Border Patrol is upset they are responding false alarms, but the question is, were they ever sufficiently responding to the legitimate alarms?"
A good quetion. Also, is it reform that is necessary or funding? (Maybe both?)
Posted by Androminos ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.pardonmyenglish.com//nav-commenters.gif)
at April 5, 2005 12:38 PM
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