The Naco Line -- Minutemen volunteers observing the border on the "Naco Line." Photo courtesy of Minutemen Project

The Final Eyewitness Reports from Minutemen Jack and Barb Smith

By Jack & Barb Smith, Minutemen Volunteers from Washington State

April 14, 2005

 

This is our last day here at the Minuteman Camp. We are leaving tomorrow morning. We spent the day doing things around camp, packing up and saying goodbye to a great bunch of very patriotic Americans.  

We feel we have accomplished our mission and made more Americans aware of the problems at our border and have shaken the cages of the politicians who can fix it. Only history will tell if they got the message and take the necessary action needed. If they don’t, we have to get them out of office and replace them with someone who will.

The Minutemen who traveled long miles on their own time and expense to come here and participate in this project have demonstrated that patriotism is not dead in America. If necessary, we would all do it again. 

Why is El Presidente Bush so intent on establishing democratic governments in Iraq and Afghanistan when he could go right next door to Mexico and establish one there?  Why does Bush want these illegal aliens to come to the U.S.? Why is he doing nothing while America is being invaded? For what is Bush selling America’s soul?
 

We are going to be standing our last duty tonight at the Minutemen Camp from 8 p.m. to midnight on the main gate. We are leaving here, but we are not finished fighting for secure borders. We demand they be made secure and immigration laws are enforced and if you do not want to see your freedom, your culture, your language and the American way of life destroyed, you had better join this fight.

What legacy do you want to leave for your grandkids?

We pray that our reporting of our Minutemen experiences will inspire others to join the fight for secure borders.

Do not ask; demand it be done today!

Mr. Bush, build that wall.

 

April 12, 2005

Didn’t go out on the line today. We just did some odd jobs around the camp, whatever needed doing, until time to go to work in the communications center from 4-8 p.m. At 8 p.m., we went on duty at the main gate until midnight. Not as cold tonight as it has been, thank God. It sure was cold Saturday and Sunday at night. Thought we were back in Washington State.

Very quiet night at the gate. Not much traffic. Just Minutemen coming and going to the lines. We have established and maintain two sectors. They are the Naco line sector and the Mountain sector. We have this part of the border pretty well shut down. The Naco line is 100 percent shut down, but we still spot and report illegals occasionally in the mountain sector. Each sector is split up into posts within visual and radio contact with each other. We have three 8-hour shifts. Depending on how many Minutemen are on duty at any one-time dictates how many posts are manned. 

We have new people showing up all the time. Some come for the weekends from as far away as California and go back to work on Monday. Some come out for just one day. We call them Minute Minutemen.

Information has it that the illegals are backed up in the canyons in the mountain sector and are running out of food and water. These are the ones that are making desperate attempts to get by us without being spotted in that section of the border. We spot them and report them and the rest is up to the Border Patrol.

I have not met one Minuteman yet who would not welcome any immigrant coming into the U.S. if they come through the gate legally and not under the fence.

It was reported in a local newspaper that $20 million worth of electronic detection equipment purchased for use in this sector of the border is not being utilized, and half of the things -- sensors, etc. -- that are installed don’t work. Some heads should roll over that. As I said before based on what we have observed and heard, we are not impressed in the least with the utilization of the resources in the Border Patrol in this sector. This should not be construed as condemnation of the rank and file, as we feel they are doing the best job they can do with one arm tied behind them.

The ACLU is getting desperate to get something on the Minutemen and are trying to provoke incidents now. They pushed one of the Minutemen the other night trying to get him to push back. Didn’t work. Then last night they walked up and shined a spotlight right in a Minuteman’s face from six inches or so away. Didn’t work that time either. We immediately report these types of contacts with them to the sheriff to counter any claims they try to make against us. They should be called the UCLU (Un-American Civil Lawsuit Union). They give us the middle finger every chance they get to try to get us to react. We are still trying to figure out if that is their age or IQ.

The Minutemen received a letter from Congressman Tom Tancredo congratulating us on an “immensely successful Minuteman project.”

“By Border Patrol counts, apprehensions of illegals are down over 50 percent so far this month," the congressman wrote. "Mexican military units have diverted migrants east and west away from the Naco section of the border where we are showing that Mexico can control the exits if it chooses to do so. We have proven to the whole world that the border can be closed and that a physical presence can deter illegal crossings.”
 
Do you hear that, Bush? Close the borders and enforce immigration laws.

For what has Bush sold the soul of America?

More "vigilante" volunteers! Photo courtesy of Minutemen Project

April 11, 2005

Barb and I took a break off the line today. We worked in the communications center from 4-8 p.m. and then on the main gate till midnight.

Went into Hereford around noon to mail some letters before going on duty and while parked in the post office parking lot making a phone call we were watching a Border Patrol agent parked across the street at the intersection. After he had sat there watching the gully there for a half hour or so he drove off. As soon as he got out of sight an illegal alien, who was hiding in some brush, came out and started walking down the road. We called the BP who responded and apprehended the alien. The BP called us back and thanked us for reporting this alien. First time that has happened. The policy toward us must be changing? We hope anyway.

This is the third illegal we have spotted and reported while we were on the road. Believe me they are all over the place. Locals tell us it is 10 times as bad when the Minutemen are not here.

Wrote to our state and federal representatives today demanding they do something about the problems created by open borders, work toward getting the borders closed and demand they start enforcing the immigration laws.

We request that everyone write, email or phone their representative and demand they take action today or you’ll get some one in there who will do something about it. It is time we demand it not just ask for it. Remember our -- and I emphasize "our" -- representatives work for us not the other way around.

After we got off the gate at midnight went out on the line to deliver a radio to one of the patrols so didn’t get to bed until 2 a.m., which made for a very long day. 

The enthusiasm to make this project succeed by the Minutemen is still very high. We have met some wonderful people here who see and understand the impact illegal aliens are having on our American way of life and are willing to step up to the plate and do their part to help stop it. These Minutemen are from every walk of life and ethic group with one thing in common and that is they are patriotic Americans.
 
In the Northwest when you are driving at night, you have to be very careful you don’t run over a deer. Here on the border you have to be very vigilant that you don’t run over an illegal alien.

Please!!!!! El Presidente, close the borders and enforce our laws.
 

April 10, 2005

This is the 10th day of the Minutemen project and we are still determined to hold the line. Local law enforcement and individual Border Patrol Agents, speaking off the record, say the illegal immigration has virtually stopped in the sector patrolled by the Minutemen. We have destroyed the historic immigration myth that it impossible to stop illegal immigrants. 

Are you paying attention El Presidente Jorge Bush?

Got up this morning and went out on the Naco line and manned an observation post from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The Mexican Federal Police across the border were very active today. Directly across from our observation post is a group of oak trees, a large ravine and a couple of railway trestles.  The Mexican government has set up a large water point in these trees where illegals can get water and lay up and wait for opportunities to enter the U.S. The Mexicans call it Camp Freedom. The Federales were congregating in this area all day, which is unusual. We watched them and they watched us. Touché!!!

Lou Dobbs of CNN fame came out to the Naco line this morning to look around. He is going to be doing a TV show about the Minutemen and wanted first-hand information for his programs. 

A couple of locals that stopped by today stated they had never seen so many Border Patrol in the area we are observing as they have since we have been there. One local stated they have trouble getting them to respond when they spot illegals coming across and report it. Most of the locals thank us over and over for drawing attention to the problems along the border. There are some who don’t want us here, for whatever reasons. Everyone has draw his or her own conclusions. It is rumored that some conspire with the smugglers. Anything is possible down here.

Returned to the camp at 2 p.m. to assist in the communications center, keeping records, answering phones and manning radios. It is a very busy place at times.

Oh yeah, on the way back to camp from the line, Barb and I spotted an illegal walking along the highway about a half-mile from camp. We notified the Border Patrol and he was picked up.

Lots of action out by the mountains last night. Numerous spottings of attempted crossing. Rumor has it the illegals and drug smugglers are backed up in the mountains because we are watching this part of the border so closely. They are running out of food and water and some of them are making desperate runs across. We spot and report them and the Border Patrol manages to catch some of them. It is like a three-ring circus down here. Like a game of hide and seek everyday. Border Patrol searches them out, apprehends them, gives them food and water, medical care if they need it and a free ride back to Mexico. Then they turn around and do the same thing the next night. Sometimes with the same person. Burn-out must be high for them.

Stood security at the gate from 8 p.m. to midnight; cold but uneventful. Another day for the Minutemen

Don’t worry though; The King of England didn’t like the original Minutemen either.

April 9, 2005

The wind is really strong today. It blew over one of the porta-pots they put out in the field for the tenters to use. It was very strong out on the line for the time we were there.

Lots of new people came in today. Some to stay the weekend and some for a week or more. It is encouraging to see new people arrive every day.

We received an official BP report today. Only 74 aliens arrested yesterday where normally there are hundreds. In the sector where normally 500 to 600 aliens cross daily there were zero arrested.

I mentioned yesterday that the BP was getting friendlier. The agents in the field are, but we found out today that they have a supervisor on duty 24/7 specifically assigned to interrogate any illegal aliens that are spotted and reported by the Minutemen and arrested by the BP to determine if the Minutemen did, said or even gestured anything that they can charge the Minutemen with. Our government does not want the Minuteman project to succeed. The BP supervisors are following the party line like the good little sheep they are and they are afraid that if the Minutemen project succeeds it will show the world how ineffective the BP is under the direction of its present supervisors. Washington, D.C., does not want us to succeed.

We still have news media running all over the place interviewing everyone and taking pictures of everything in sight. A TV crew from Russia showed up today. Crews from Japan and Australia have been here also.

Barb volunteered for a two-hour shift in the communications center today when we got back in from the line. Then we stood security on the main gate from 8 to 12.  It was quiet for a change but I thought I was back in Washington state because it was so cold out there. 

Minutemen patrols observed and reported numerous attempts of groups attempting to cross last night in the mountains. The BP caught some of them and some got away. They call them “get-a-ways.”

News Flash: The U.S. government announced today a plan that will tighten all borders by 2008.  Unfortunately, Mexico announced a plan to have all their people here by 2007.

Now Bush, pay attention, we said: "close the borders.”

Previously posted reports, in chronological order:

March 31, 2005

From sea to sea and from border to border, 1,000 Minutemen from all 50 states have volunteered to gather along the Arizona/Mexico border to exercise their rights of free speech and demand our government officials enforce our immigration laws and close the border to stop the flow of the thousands of illegal aliens that pour across the border daily. By their actions, they hope to make American citizens aware of the dangers these illegal aliens pose to our society, our way of life and the future of our country. We are two of those Minutemen from Washington State who are participating in this endeavor to help bring about this awareness.

For some time, we have been cognizant of the burden illegal aliens have placed on our welfare systems, our schools, our prisons and our medical facilities. We emailed our state representatives numerous times and received ambiguous, meaningless answers or no replies at all. The Washington State Legislature has done absolutely nothing to ease the situation except grant illegal aliens more benefits at taxpayers’ expense and then raise taxes to pay for them. This situation seems prevalent through out the country.

We also e-mailed our federal legislators and the president without receiving any replies.  We have watched Bush tap dance around the immigration issue numerous times, taking no action to protect our country and our citizens. Mexico’s President, Vicente Fox, seems to be the one dictating U.S. policy on U. S. border issues. 

The function of the minutemen will be similar to a neighborhood watch group. The Minutemen will be dispersed along the border to observe any illegal aliens entering our country and reporting them to the U.S. Border Patrol. We will avoid any contacts or confrontations with the aliens.  

We have heard numerous government officials call us “vigilantes” and threaten us with arrest while they turn a blind eye upon the laws the illegal aliens violate when they illegally come across our borders. The president and other officials of Mexico have threatened to use American laws against us. The notorious ACLU has even entered the picture to protect the rights of the illegal aliens and units of the Mexican Army have been deployed along the border where we will be operating.

President Bush has repeatedly refused to secure our borders. We’d like to know for exactly what is the Bush Administration selling our country’s soul.

Makes one wonder whose on whose side.

Read our lips Bush, secure our borders

We will send out a report daily of our first hand experiences and observations as Minutemen. Until tomorrow!

April 1, 2005

Arrived at the Miracle Valley Bible College in Hereford, Arizona, which is approximately two miles north of the border. Checked in with the Minuteman Project and were assigned quarters. Volunteered for gate security for a couple days until after the rallies at the Naco and Douglas Border Stations on Saturday and Sunday. Then we are going out on patrols. Many of the Minutemen are starting patrols tonight.

We commend the pastor of the Bible college for accommodating the Minuteman Project under the local circumstances. There are many Minutemen from all walks of life and from most states staying here in tents, travel trailers, motor homes and in the dormitory rooms. There are many more that have accommodations in the surrounding communities.  All have the common goal of demanding that our government and President Bush enforce the immigration laws and close the border.

All Minutemen volunteer for the jobs they want to do. You can work in security (providing security for the base at the college), communications (maintaining communications with the various units), air division (pilots and planes), or the patrol division (spotting and reporting illegal aliens sneaking across the border).

Talked to many locals and so far all have stated they are glad we are here and agree with what we are trying to do. When asked why they do not speak up against the illegal aliens and smugglers the common reply was, “We have to live here after you guys are gone.”  They fear retaliation so the attitude is live and let live, turn your head and mind your own business. Meanwhile, the flood of illegal aliens and smuggling goes on night after night right through some of the local’s back yards.

Security at the college is very tight and guards are posted at all entry points for good reason. The Minuteman Project volunteers have received numerous death threats of bodily harm and lawsuits from organizations that are promoting open borders, from those that profit from the illegal aliens, drug smugglers and Mexican gangs that brag they are going to teach the Minutemen a lesson. The Minuteman organizers have received so many threats they have to have body guards most of the time. Is this America? Land of the free?

Went to the indoctrination and registration in Tombstone this afternoon. There were numerous media present from local, national and international TV, radio and newspapers, even stations from Mexico. Everywhere you turned there were reporters shoving a mike in your face or taking your picture. There were so many Minutemen present they held three separate indoctrination sessions. The highlight of these sessions was the speech given by Congressman Tom Tancredo from Colorado, a very strong supporter in Congress for closing the borders.

Being here is like walking on eggshells. On our side of the border, the local law enforcement agencies, the Border Patrol, numerous organizations who are for open borders, and the ACLU who are slobbering at the mouth to get something on us are minutely scrutinizing us. The ACLU is here to protect the rights of the lawbreaking illegal aliens -- not the rights of law abiding American citizens.

On the Mexican side, they have deployed units of the Mexican Army along the border where we will be operating. They have sent additional Grupo Beta agents and National Immigration Institute personnel to this area. These are organizations trained to provide assistance to illegal aliens crossing our borders in violation of our immigration laws. The Mexican Human Rights Commission has stated they will ask the U.S. government to prevent our Minuteman patrols.

We have been put on notice that if we enter Border Patrol Station Property we will be arrested for trespassing.

Again it makes one wonder whom is on what side?

Read our lips Bush, secure our borders!!!!!

April 4, 2005
 
We returned after several hours on “the line,” a stretch of the border that the Minutemen are monitoring and were told at the front gate to get inside to a very important meeting.  We arrived just as the meeting was finishing and received a briefing. The headquarters has received a “very creditable threat” presumably from the MS-13 gang of Mexico. This gang had threatened to teach the Minutemen a lesson in the past. It was reported that MS-13 planned to attack the Naco Border Station tonight as a diversion to draw all law enforcement away from the Bible college area so they could attack us here. We are tightly securing the compound around the Bible college. Jim Gilchrist and the other leaders stressed we were free to leave and no one would think anything about it.  To our knowledge, no one left. Gilchrist informed the Border Patrol, sheriff, state police, FBI, all news media and the pastor of the Bible college. As this is being written, it’s windy and dark and we are waiting. 

After working security until midnight last night, we decided to go out on “the line” so we showed up about noon for instruction.  We were met by Chris Simcox and one of the seasoned border observers who showed us the ropes and took about five groups of new people out. We set up a few miles east of the Naco Border Station in groups of 3-5 with radios, video cameras and cell phones. Our cell phone spent the entire time searching between cell towers mostly hitting towers on the Mexico side of the border. We observed a lot of activity on the other side -- mainly Grupo Beta vehicles and some individuals walking and being grouped and led by the GB folks. You could easily tell the bright orange GB vehicles and the equally bright orange t-shirts being worn by the GB folks. A lieutenant in the sheriff’s department told us that all the border crossers were being picked up by the Grupo Beta and directed to areas we weren’t monitoring. The Minutemen were successful in that they showed Bush the border can be secured.

The entire time we were out there, news trucks, radio broadcasters, TV satellite trucks and newspaper reporters were continuously coming by and stopping for interviews, not to mention a continuous stream of Border Patrol and sheriff’s cars. We watched the media speaking to Grupo Beta in areas where GB was close to the fence. 

The sheriff’s lieutenant also told us that at any time about 50,000 individuals are laid up in and around Naco, Mexico (just across the border from Naco, Arizona) waiting to come under the fence. It is very big business for the town as these folks eat and obtain water for the next leg of their trip. He said the “coyotes” charge $2,500 to $3,000 per person to “guide” these people into the U.S.  It is usually a three-day trip or more, and if one becomes weak or sick he or she is just left behind. He said he had recovered bodies from the desert and told of a young woman’s body and that of a teenage girl that were particularly heart-wrenching for him. Both had died of exposure. 

Yesterday, the Mexican army was across from our observation post on “the line,” but no sign of them today.

Many of the Minutemen, including Jack, stayed up all night in a well organized, well thought out defense of the compound. All is well this morning and we plan to go back out on “the line” today.

Access to the Internet is very difficult to find so we can’t send these daily like we would like to. We will write a report every day them whenever we can. 

Read our lips Bush and close the borders!

April 5, 2005

Witnessing with our own eyes what is going on at the border has really been mind-boggling. Unless you see it for yourself down here, you would never believe it. The local media reports some of what actually transpires on the border here, but it never reaches the interior of our country and the majority of our citizens. In plain language, we are being invaded, not by armies, but by literally thousands of illegal aliens every single day of the year. The Border Patrol doesn't even catch half of the people that come across and they catch an unbelievable number of them. I've heard they catch one in four that come through. When they do catch them they send them back into Mexico, where they try again the next day. The BP receive hundreds of calls daily from citizens reporting illegals along the highway, in the border towns, on private property, on public property, at their homes asking for and in some cases demanding food and water. I hear they don't have half the manpower they need, so a lot of calls go unanswered Of the hundreds arrested in March in this area alone, the newspaper reported 20 percent of them had criminal records.

When OTM's (illegal aliens Other Than Mexicans) are caught, they are issued citations to appear in court, just like we are issued traffic citations, and released. Very small percentages ever appear in court. They disappear and go where they want to go and do what ever they came into our country to do. Are El Presidente Jorge Bush and his henchmen aware of all this? You can bet the farm that they are. For what is Jorge Bush selling America's soul.

We went out on border patrol today and manned an observation post from noon until 6 p.m. Pretty quiet today, but we did observe numerous illegals just lying around waiting for a chance to get across. On the way back to camp, we observed a male Hispanic who appeared to be an illegal (carrying a back pack and a gallon jug of water) walking along the highway. Called the Border Patrol and reported the sighting to them. They are all over this area but they don't stay here. They pass through on the way to other destinations.

After we returned to the camp, we spent four hours on security on the main entrance.  This is very stressful checking everyone and the vehicles coming through but very necessary due to the daily death threats we receive.

There are over 200 Minutemen manning observation posts working in shifts 24 hours per day. At any time you can observe Mexicans laying up waiting for a chance to make the dash to cross over. Members of the Grupo Beta, (Mexican refugee assistance group), Federales (Mexican National Police) and Mexican soldiers continuously patrol the border to direct those waiting to cross over to go around that section of the border Minutemen are observing. We have been very successful in shutting down the influx of illegals in the areas where we have been posted. That is why the drug cartels and the human smugglers are so ad at us. We are costing them big bucks by closing the border. We have proven it can be done. Are you listening, El Presidente Bush?

Are these the poor peons that want to come here to do the jobs Americans don't want to do?  More like the criminals who come here to compete with our own homegrown crooks.

You had better wake up America. They are coming to your town. If you can't believe they are a threat to our way of life and our society, come to the Arizona border, talk to the locals and see for yourself. Get involved. It is an eye opener.

In recent polls, 80 percent of Americans want our borders secured. Are you listening, El Presidente? Close the borders. Enforce our laws.

Until tomorrow!

April 6, 2005

We took some personal time today to buy supplies and wash clothes, etc., then spent four hours out on the line. Observed the same things out there today. Mexican officials are still directing their citizens to flank our observation posts. We are getting the Mexican government’s attention and making them respond. According to local ranchers who have land right on the border, they have never seen so many sheriff’s deputies, Border Patrol agents in the area and have never seen the Grupo Beta and the Federales on the Mexican side. They do see the Mexican Army occasionally. They stated that prior to our arrival, they observed trucks, pickups, vans and even occasionally taxi cabs bringing people up to the border and dropping them off. The Mexicans then walk across the border at the first opportunity. According to the ranchers we talked to, this is just about a daily occurrence.  Most have given up contacting officials about the problem as nothing is ever done to help them.

The big news today is Border Patrol supervisors are bitching that Minutemen are setting off their sensors. Another complaint they are making is that we are walking in the area they sweep clean, then watch for the footprints of any one coming across these areas so they can follow them. This is BS. They are informed of the areas that we will be in. It appears they are getting their orders from on high to harass us any way they can. Most BP Agents (the grunts who do the work) are glad we are here.

It appears that our opposition is trying to set us up for arrest and lawsuits. A Minuteman stopped to lend assistance to an apparent illegal setting along the highway looking distressed, gave the individual food and water and called the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol picked the illegal up and when they got him back to their holding facility the illegal stated that the Minuteman detained him.

Crap hit the fan. The Border Patrol notified the Sheriffs office who notified the county prosecutor. The sheriff's department came to the camp to investigate the incident. Lucky for this Minuteman, the whole incident was video taped by another Minuteman on the scene. It is still unknown how the incident will play out. It is against the law to detain illegal aliens or hold them until the authorities arrive -- even on your private property.  The authorities will charge you with unlawful detainment, depriving the illegals of their civil rights (although they are breaking the law) and in some cases even kidnapping. This is the work of the ACLU.

Oh yes, the ACLU are still on the scene in full force hoping to catch a Minuteman doing something they can sue us for. They even try provoking us in some cases. It would make their day catching us doing something they could come after us for. If the future of our country depended on these brain-dead, brain-washed individuals, this country would be in more trouble then we are all ready.

Returned to camp from the border and worked on the main gate for another six hours. It is up to the individual how much they want to do. Most are putting in 10-18 hours a day and in some cases even more. New people come and other people leave daily. I don't think anyone knows the exact number of Minutemen here at any one time because not all of them are staying in camp. The number in our camp fluctuates between 300-400 on any one day. Many more are staying in motels, RV parks, with friends, etc., or live in the area.

The sheriff’s department notified us that a Hispanic individual from Tennessee had telephoned them that he was loading up his friends and coming to Arizona to engage the Minutemen in a gunfight. The FBI was notified. Four hours later, the FBI notified us that this individual was definitely not coming to Arizona. It was assumed they arrested this person.

If El Presidente Bush would uphold his oath of office and enforce immigration laws and close the border, American lives would not be in jeopardy doing the job he refuses to do.

In a speech the other day, he stated, "The most important job a president of a country has is to protect its citizens. To bad he doesn't practice what he preaches. Hypocrisy at it finest.

Frodo lost! El Presidente Bush has the ring!