MINUTEMEN:Border watchers coming to city (Houston)

[Judi Lynn]

July 7, 2005, 11:38PM

MINUTEMEN
Border watchers coming to city
They'll target HPD's hands-off policy on illegal immigrants and day-labor sites
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The Minutemen are coming to Houston.

Leaders of the controversial group dedicated to stopping the flow of illegal immigration said they will patrol the streets of the Bayou City beginning in October, as part of a campaign that will extend north from the Mexican border. Houston volunteers will gather near day labor centers and corners where immigrant workers solicit work, in an effort to draw critical attention to the city's hands-off policy toward illegal immigrants.

"We will be videotaping the (day laborers) and we will be videotaping the contractors who pick them up," said Bill Parmley, a Goliad County landowner who heads the Texas chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. The Minutemen will only observe to draw attention to the problem and will not attempt to make arrests, he said.
(snip)

The Minutemen started with a monthlong citizen patrol along the border in Arizona in April, which led to plans to patrol the entire Mexican border from San Diego to Brownsville beginning in October. But Parmley said he now wants to extend the Texas effort far inland. He said he was particularly concerned by what he has learned about the city of Houston's policies toward illegal immigrants.

No questions about status
Houston Police Department policy forbids officers from asking about immigration status in most cases. The city also funds day labor sites used by immigrants, including illegal immigrants, to find work.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3257676
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[DanCa]

1. Musta got bored going down to the dump and shooting rats

wonder how many saturday nights it took jethro and clem republican to learn how to roll down the window of the jeep first before the opened fire on the rat.

[DesEtoiles]

2. and I will tape the MinuteMen as the enter one of city's many titty bars

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Believe it or not, Minutemen are organizing in suburban New Jersey.

How far from the border can you get?

[Conservativesux]

5. What is your point? Are'nt these the "patriots" that Tim McVeigh used...

..to hang out with, before he and Nichols blew a whole building down?

IMO, these jerks are just a bunch of gun-packing loonytoons looking for an excuse to shoot someone, to prove how manly and patriotic they are.

[Occulus]

9. Here's their point...

I really think their use of border activities is little more than a cover to legitimize them. Now they're going to "patrol" our city streets (well, not mine, but... is it only a matter of time?)...

Do these people have provocation in mind for something?

Moving into cities. So, if they see someone wearing something on their heads...?

Suppose they see two gay guys holding hands. Are these people of the mindset that that is not acceptable? Will we begin seeing ordinary people getting harassed by the jerks?

What happens when their leader calls them off... and some decide not to end their little operations?

I can see this going too damn far in so many ways...

[Conservativesux]

10. They come into my town and act like Nazi's they are going to get hurt.

And we wont need guns to take these bigots down.

[Bridget Burke]

4. The HPD doesn't ask about immigration status because....

They are more concerned about serious crime. Victims & witnesses will be more likely to speak out if they don't think the police will turn them over to La Migra.

Hot as Houston is, it's even hotter down along the Border. Although the only Minutemen in Texas (that I've heard of) went to Goliad--200 miles from the Border. Apparently most of our Borderlands are in private hands--owned by folks who have been dealing with things for generations. (Reading the article more closely, I see they plan to head south in October--when things get cooler.)

If the Minutemen hassle anyone with brown skin, they'll be dealing with some holders of green cards. Or with several generations of Texanos in their family. Or with roots in Karachi....

Who will be watching the Minutemen? Oh well, if they get too hot, they can hide out in the aforementioned Titty Bars.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Not only that but our undocumented guest workers

are an essential part of the economy. The 'minutemen' would be a joke if they weren't a well funded attempt to develop a right wing national paramilitary force. Unlike earlier survivalist/nazi militias these clowns are deliberately trying to establish themselves as an unofficial part of the law enforcement system and are undoubtedly establishing connections and working relationships with sympathizers within the official law enforcement organizations.

[DFWdem]

8. LOL "Undocumented Guest Workers"?

How long did it take you to come up with that euphamism?

[Warren Stupidity]

12. it is what they are

In the border areas the vast majority of 'illegal immigrants' are part of a de facto economic arrangement that is vital to the economy of the region. Everyone in the area knows this, everyone pretends that it isn't so. Its all wink-wink nod-nod know-what-I-mean bullshit. We get cheap labor, they get to support their families back home, and anytime you want - bingo a rightwing rally point is available for a little jingoistic bombast.

To answer your question: less than 2 seconds, and I don't think I made it up.

[Richardo]

7. Because as we all know, the white freeper male MUST have day labor jobs

:eyes:

How about you assholes mind your own business?

[KamaAina]

11. At what point do they stop being "border watchers"

and start being just plain old, garden-variety vigilante bigots?

At this point. Where they're three hundred miles from the border they're allegedly protecting.

When the fascist Le Pen was stirring up this kind of crap in France a few years ago, people started wearing patches that read "Touchez pas a mon pote" (Don't touch my buddy). "No toca a mi amigo", anyone?