Report: Border-Watch Groups Shrink To Almost Half

They used to be in the evening news on our TV’s, day in and day out: in any of the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, they were patrolling the border in armed groups, keen on stopping illegal immigration by spotting groups of undocumented trying to cross and alerting the Border Patrol to their presence. Or they would drive at night and light the border with their cars’ lights, making the crossing more difficult and increasing the immigrants’ chances of being caught.

They called themselves the Minuteman Project, or American Freedom Riders, or Crispus Attucks Brigade, or American Freedom Riders.

In time, they expanded, totaling in 2010 319 groups in 35 states.

But now, a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights organization, says that their momentum has almost vanished, and their numbers decreased by almost half, to 185 by the end of 2011.

The report says that the reasons for the decline in the number and activities of what they call “Nativist extremists” groups are a combination of “the weight of bad press, organizational disarray, and the co-optation of the movement’s concerns by state legislatures passing draconian legislation targeting foreigners.”

Far from being relegated to the fringes of the political scale, the ideological positions held by these groups are now closer to mainstream. Several states, including Arizona with its SB 1070 and Alabama with HB 56, legislated laws that tackle undocumented immigrants. All republican presidential candidates in the current campaign have expressed strong opposition to illegal immigration and pledge, at the least, to increase deportations, even beyond the record setting numbers achieved by the current Administration.

Precisely, this may had the effect of diminishing the enthusiasm of the groups.

According to the report, “Most of the surviving groups are part of a single large coalition, the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition (FIRE). The most important Minuteman groups — the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) and the Minuteman Project (MMP) — have all but collapsed. In 2010, MCDC had 77 chapters and MMP had 38. By the end of 2011, there were only two MCDC chapters and eight MMP chapters left.”

The survival of FIRE, with 124 groups in 34 states, adds the report, may be attributed to its collaboration with Tea Party and “more radical antigovernment Patriot movement” groups on other conservative causes.

Comments

[Rob Paterson1]

11:06 PM on 03/21/2012

thank GOD, finally this people have something better to do!

[Charles C Gilbert]

11:06 AM on 03/21/2012

While border watch groups are up against a monumental task of trying to help stop illegal immigration, we are still out there! I work for a group called Texas Border Volunteers. We assist Border Patrol, Tx Dept. of Public Safety and the county Sheriff with the task of observing and reporting illegal aliens. We have success on virtually EVERY watch we post out on. And I can tell you that our membership continues to grow every year. We may be tilting at windmills so to speak but let me ask you a question. What are you doing to prevent crime in your state or in your own country for that matter. Illegal immigrants are a drain on our economy, they populate our prisons, they are responsible increasing levels of crime in virtually every immigrant community in the country and they are bringing the violence that is commonplace in Northern Mexico to this country. The levels of OTM's (other than Mexicans) and SIA's (special interest aliens) is at approx a 50/50 ratio in South Texas / Rio Grande Valley sector according to US Border Patrol. Illegal immigration is not just about Mexicans who want to lay floor tile and change bed linen in hotels. It's about our national security. We see IA's from China, The Middle East, South central Asia and South America. Some of these people are coming to do harm to our country and our citizens.

[Katsilva]

02:43 PM on 03/21/2012

charles, charles,charles, how can you"work for a group" called "texas border volunteers" you eighteir "work" or are a "volunteer" one or the other which? i am originally from the rio grande vally, down by mcallen, there have been rumors that a few ,not all, of this group were nothing more than bandits, stealing and leaving folkes out there , i know back in the late 60's that was a common thing in the mexicali border area is that prctice still on going? kinda wonder where the "Volunteers" get theire money .just curious

[Charles C Gilbert]

06:34 PM on 03/21/2012

Kat, There are rumors that Elvis is still alive and the moon is made of green cheese. Those rumors are just as unsubstantiated as the information that the SPLC uses for its' "studies".
We get our money from hard work and our members have saved the lives of dozens of IA's that the coyotes leave behind for dead. Our organization was started in 2006/2007 time-frame. I know absolutely nothing about the 60's era that you refer to.

[Picosa]

10:14 PM on 03/21/2012

Re, "Illegal immigrants are a drain on our economy,"

This report debunks that myth.

CBO 2007
"Over the past two decades, most efforts to estimate the fiscal impact of immigration in the United States have concluded that, in aggregate and over the long term, tax revenues of all types generated by immigrants -- both legal and unauthorized -- EXCEED THE COST OF THE SERVICES THEY USE"
http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/87xx/doc8711/12-6-immigration.pdf

Re, "they populate our prisons, they are responsible increasing levels of crime in virtually every immigrant community in the country"

Lets focus on state with most migrants.

... in California, U.S.-born men have an institutionalization rate that
is 10 times higher than that of foreign-born men (4.2% vs. 0.42%).
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/cc_208kbcc.pdf

Rates of crime and conviction for undocumented immigrants are far below those for the native born, and that is especially the case for violent crimes, including murder.
http://reason.com/archives/2009/07/06/the-el-paso-miracle

Re, "and they are bringing the violence that is commonplace in Northern Mexico to this country."

Don't confuse migrants who come to work with cartels who provide Americans their insatiable demand for illegal drugs.

[Charles C Gilbert]

10:50 PM on 03/21/2012

Here is the NEXT paragraph that I assume you omitted by accident:
However, many estimates also show that the cost of providing
public services to unauthorized immigrants at the state
and local levels exceeds what that population pays in state
and local taxes. It is important to note, though, that currently available estimates have significant limitations;
therefore, using them to determine an aggregate effect
across all states would be difficult and prone to considerable error.
If you continue to read the ENTIRE document that you refrence you will see that it supports my position and my statement.
Further, if we use statistics from the State of Texas on criminal actitivity the DPS has identified in a report dated SEP 27th 2011, over 88,000 criminal illegal aliens from OCT 2008 to AUG 2011 that were responsible for over 344,000 crimes including over 2,200 murders and over 46,000 sexual assaults.
Sir, this is but a small sample of the documentation that is available for anyone who cares to read. Thanks, but get ALL of your facts straight and try again.

[BrokeInSoCal]

02:26 AM on 03/21/2012

Standing in the hot sun is no longer needed thanks to ICE. Report illegal aliens by calling
[phone] or submit an online tip at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp

[ArturoFernandez]

02:20 AM on 03/22/2012

veeeery few ever do.

[huffposer]

12:49 AM on 03/21/2012

The numbers are down because Obama's energy policy made sure that they can't afford the gas to get to the border. They have to wait until the illegals get into the country and sprint across their property. Then, they can shoot them.

[hrpmap]

10:01 PM on 03/20/2012

Sherrif Joe isn't abve the law?? Apparently the illegal border runners are under the current admin.

[Cassie Lemon]

09:09 PM on 03/20/2012

More and more border patrol is being handled by private contractors, which in my opinion, is not all a bad thing. I know of several contractors, including Immediate Response Group, that has a stellar reputation for efficiency and care for the safety of family and businesses.

[Ilegal]

07:38 AM on 03/21/2012

and they pay you how much to be their PR person?

[Katsilva]

01:39 PM on 03/21/2012

i dont think cassie gets paid in $$$$$$$$, if you know what i mean

[spytheweb]

09:07 PM on 03/20/2012

We need to put more effort into technology like secure communities, E-Verify, denying welfare benefits, closing down the 14th amendment for illegal aliens. Deport all illegal aliens who don't have a right to be here.

[Ilegal]

07:39 AM on 03/21/2012

the day all your wishes come true will be the day of the absolute and complete collapse of the US economy.

[jessdog]

04:55 PM on 03/21/2012

Are you gonna clean my toilet?

[Elecktra001]

01:59 AM on 03/22/2012

Because that's all they are good for? Is what you are saying? How demeaning from a compadre. And very telling. Apparently, you support the exploitation and degradation of these people. Even more reason to send them home to get them away from people like you.

[Spartacus2]

02:07 AM on 03/22/2012

Leftists do love their slave labor and we already know they're too lazy to do anything for themselves.

[Garspies]

07:51 PM on 03/20/2012

It's painfully obvious from watching the video that these wannabes are not going to catch anyone. In order to catch migrants crossing they would have to be smarter than them. It is obvious that this is NOT the case.

[hrpmap]

10:04 PM on 03/20/2012

All that's needed is to be snart enough to change the admin in DC, the present pro-illegal one.

[pammiethekid]

06:34 AM on 03/21/2012

Since you are retired, you probably have time to read up now and find out that a. more people have been deported under the Obama administration than under Bush, and, b. Bush supported amnesty.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/07/26/128772646/deportations-higher-under-obama-than-bush

[Garspies]

01:29 PM on 03/21/2012

Facts and present stats elude you. Sad little hatefull man.

[jessdog]

04:56 PM on 03/21/2012

Most can't read or write! No joke!

[Garspies]

12:02 AM on 03/23/2012

Most what?
Careful.

[BrokeInSoCal]

07:35 PM on 03/20/2012

Why does SPLC hate American citizens?

[Garspies]

07:44 PM on 03/20/2012

Better question is: Why do all racists hate the SPLC"?

[hrpmap]

10:06 PM on 03/20/2012

The SPLC is racist.

[BrokeInSoCal]

01:28 AM on 03/21/2012

So all citizens who are against illegal immigration are racists?

[Pedro Huertero]

05:26 PM on 03/20/2012

They're too busy joining the nazi groups.. oh, I meant, the heritage nativist groups (sorry for not being pc)

[Elecktra001]

09:16 PM on 03/20/2012

How would you classify LaRaza? A faux heritage duplicitous retro-nativist group?

[rp2par]

09:19 PM on 03/20/2012

You know, of course, that La Raza receives government grants to protest. Outrageous!!!

[Pedro Huertero]

03:21 AM on 03/21/2012

well to my understanding La Raza is a civil rights group for Hispanic-Americans, just like NAACP. Even if they were a weird nativist group, at least they don't promote a hate agenda like the nazis,er, i mean, nativists or white renaissance. There's a big difference. Even if la Raza wants to help illegals (oh the outrage) they don't claim to be a superior race and all the blabla like the white renaissance groups. I don't really care about any heritage groups at all to be honest. But we can't ignore the growth of white-nativist hate groups around the country.

[Minuteman Project]

03:22 PM on 03/20/2012

The SPLC is correct, in my opinion, that the number of "border observation groups" have dwindled to a fraction of what they were prior to 2010. Many participants grew tired of incessant inter-organizational fighting and simply quit. No one wants to attend a party where rhetorical and physical fist fights break out among the party-goers.

After 10 years in political activism on the immigration dilemma facing the US, I have concluded that many sinister, delusional, or trouble-making persons infiltrated many of the various groups and created havoc and disruption when they could not seize leadership positions in those groups.

The Minuteman Project is focusing more on bringing national awareness of illegal immigration to the educational environment and less placing of volunteers on border outposts. Unfortunately, most colleges and universities, especially places like Columbia U. and Harvard U., are notoriously against any debate on issues that a handful of students might find controversial or offensive...for whatever reason or whim. These are not exactly environments exalting free speech.

Fewer than five per cent (5 %), in my opinion, of universities or colleges actually "allow" free speech to occur on their campuses. I no longer donate to these universities. I encourage others also to stop donating to them.

The movement to bring the United States back under the rule of law, insofar as immigration policy is concerned, is still very much alive. It just doesn't know how to make a lot of noise.

Jim Gilchrist, President, The Minuteman Project

[Garspies]

07:53 PM on 03/20/2012

I see that all of your members have fanned you.

[hrpmap]

10:09 PM on 03/20/2012

We all started with 0 then 1 skippy, including you..

[Katsilva]

02:57 PM on 03/21/2012

i see bothe sheriffe joe and steven segal are still your only two fans maybe the guys in the video will fan you.,,,,,

[sibyl9]

12:02 PM on 03/20/2012

Aren't webcams being widely employed now on the border. Volunteers sit behind their computers and monitor suspicious activity, alerting ICE if they see any? I don't think the volunteers are gone, they've just gone high-tech.

[Cassie Lemon]

09:12 PM on 03/20/2012

You may be more right than you know - border patrol private contractors like Immediate Response Group use equipment designed to be less intrusive so that the "intruders" aren't aware of their presence.

[Katsilva]

03:48 PM on 03/21/2012

dont like Private Contractors money wasted on them could and should be given to the border patrol to get officers with proper trainning or better yet give the money to our boys as a bones and let then do that job here at home last i heard one p c makes or was making the same or more then 2 of our boys. just not right

[22Keys]

11:56 AM on 03/20/2012

Never have pride in a place you seek to escape.

[bloodbath666]

11:12 AM on 03/20/2012

They were just bored out of their minds. Looking into miles of nothingness and finding very few illegals.Getting in the way of the real Border Patrol and alerting the bad guys to take different routes.If you go from Wahington DC to Miami that is only a thousand miles now go back again another thousand miles that is the Mexican-American border's 2,000 miles. It's like some fool standing along the beach waiting for a drug boat to land. Most Illegals just fly in a plane or cross the border in a car or walk across the hundeds of legal crossings.They are coming from China and dozens of different countries now.

[herischilaw]

10:49 AM on 03/20/2012

Glad to have some good news for a change: these groups were just asking to get into trouble either by accidentally shooting some poor family crossing the border and/or getting into a gunfight with smugglers.

[freedom1947]

10:58 AM on 03/20/2012

A bit like the Zimmerman Way of heroic Americans?

[Elecktra001]

11:41 AM on 03/20/2012

FYI - Zimmerman's father has said his son is Hispanic.
htp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-19/neighbrhood-watch-death-trayvon-martin/53655188/1

Why isn't this story in Latino Voices?