Enforcing the Law

What do you do when you're an American citizen and you're fed up with the near-complete lack of border security? You take matters into your own hands.

NACO, Ariz. — Clusters of citizens who volunteered to watch for illegal immigrants and smugglers dotted a swath of the Mexican border as their monthlong effort to bolster authorized patrols got under way in earnest.

Volunteers for the Minuteman Project had a limited presence on the border during the weekend but spent Monday expanding their line southeast of this border community. They gathered in groups of three or four spaced out about every quarter mile. Some sat in lawn chairs, others stood scanning the desert with binoculars.

Dave Carpinello, a Denver investment banker who had a pistol on his hip and wore a T-shirt reading "I defended the border," said he was here out of concern that potential terrorists could penetrate the porous border.

"For me, it's not so much concern for the illegal immigration," said Carpinello, who spent part of the weekend in the desert. "Anyone and their mother could fly to Mexico and walk right over here. That's a scary thought."

Border patrol officials said the volunteers have been peaceful but have still been disrupting U.S. Border Patrol operations by unwittingly tripping sensors that alert agents to possible intruders. Agents have to respond to the false alarms, which pulls them off their normal patrols, said Andy Adame, a patrol spokesman.

Obviously the U.S. Border Patrol's "normal patrols" aren't doing enough. I generally frown upon vigilante justice such as this, but the simple truth of the matter is that it's absolutely necessary in this case. I have no problem with people migrating legally to the United States; I have a big problem with "undocumented" illegals coming up to milk the American system without paying their fair share. These people do take jobs away from Americans, and it's high time it stopped.

Minutemen, if you're reading this, I give you a hearty "Huzzah!"