Maybe they're nuts but Minutemen have been effective

First of all, the Minutemen are not nuts, they are not vigilantes and they are not gun nuts. What they are is American citizens trying to help stem the tide of illigal immigration, by observing and reporting violatins to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. They are the same as any neighborhood or block watch. They lengths to which the lefists, ACLU, the MSM and Vincente Fox are going to, to smear this group should tell one that these groups fear how effective the Minutemen will be.

Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic calls them effective.

"I'd call them fairly effective. Before they even set foot among the scrub oak and chaparral of southeastern Arizona, they have done what politicians and policymakers in this part of the country have been unable to do.

They have, as advertisers like to say, reached their target audience.

On Wednesday, just two days before the Minutemen assembled on the Arizona-Mexico border, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection hightailed it to Tucson to announce a "comprehensive strategy" to secure the border. Suddenly, Arizona is getting 534 new Border Patrol agents. Suddenly, Arizona is getting 23 aircraft to patrol the border, to bolster the 15 here. So urgent is the need, that 155 officers are en route. "The point is, we're determined to take control of our border," Robert Bonner, the border commissioner, said.
"

Well it about damned time some one in the federal government got off their dead ass and is going to try and take some action. It is a real damned shame it had to take this type of determination by a group of American citizens to get to this point. My biggest disappointment with the Bush Adminstration has been illegal immigration.

"Bonner said Wednesday's announcement had nothing to do with the prospect of hundreds of people headed to the banks of the San Pedro River to "help" the government do what it has been unable to do.

Of course it didn't. This administration and this Congress have been determined to take control of the border for years now.

Which explains why 11 million people are in this country illegally. Which explains why one in three newcomers to Arizona over the past five years is a person who had to sneak into the state. Which explains all those crackdowns on employers who provide the jobs that lured them here."

Trying to pin this just on the Bush Administration is wrong. The Clinton Adminstration did nothing on this issue as well. That does not absolve the Bush Administration, it simply points out that there has been a lot of talk about illegal immigration, but no action. Until now. Cracking down on those that employ illegals, (note to the leftists: they are illegal aliens, not undocumented workers), is only a part of stemming this tide. The border must be secured, especially in this age of terrorism.

"Surely a country that can send people to live in space, that can cure disease, that can accomplish any number of amazing feats, can figure out a way to fix, finally, that standing joke we call our immigration policy. Surely the people we entrust with running this country can pass some realistic laws that actually work, then enforce them, at the border and in the workplace.

As for Mexico, surely a country that puts out guides telling people how to safely cross the border can put out a guide warning them not to dare try it."

I have a few words for Vincente Fox as well. Get rid of the corruption, get your economy working and keep your people in YOUR country. One other thing Mr. Fox, keep your 10th rate army on YOUR side of the border. You are not Poncho Villa and quite frankly, you may want to remember what happened to him. Any incident involving your army will only incite the American people to demand a swift and devistating retaliation, you can ask saddam and the Taliban about that. - Sailor