- Well before dawn broke on a chilly Saturday morning volunteers
of Civil Homeland Defense were in position atop ridges along the San Pedro
River scouting for groups of people entering the country illegally. Through
binoculars this reporter spotted two military type vehicles parked at an
abandoned ranch just across the "Line", the U.S. - Mexico border.
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- With me that morning was an independent photo journalist
from Texas; we'll call him Mike. Also along with our patrol was an independent
video journalist, Caesar from Texas. The two had been with us on many patrols
and have documented hours of our operations and numerous encounters with
illegal invaders. That morning they finally had the opportunity to see
what we had told them about, they got their "money shot", what
they had been waiting for: drug dealers, illegals and a run-in with the
legendary rogue para-military groups that "patrol" the Mexican
side of the border.
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- I asked the two if they wanted to move in closer; they
were of course eager to get as close as possible. I'm sure they were not
exactly prepared for what happened next.
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- We loaded into my truck and drove to within a couple
hundred yards of the line; I parked the truck behind some trees and thick
brush wanting to move in as quietly as possible.
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- I took the two journalists through the brush, parallel
to the border fence and came up through a wash in a low area that was hidden
by a dirt berm. We kneeled behind the berm and peered over the top for
a perfect view of the ranch. We were as close as we could get - right on
the fence.
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- Just as I peered over the top of the berm, I heard rustling
in the wash to my right. Suddenly three armed men appeared from the brush.
They moved quickly to the fence. One slung his rifle over his shoulder
and leaned over to put a leg through the fence. We were no more than 25
feet away. As the young man leaned over he turned his head and looked right
along the fence and right into my eyes.
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- It was one of those moments - the pregnant pause - all
three seemed as surprised to see us as we were to see them.
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- With haste the three men moved away from the fence and
back into the thicket of mesquite and tall grass, shouting to others as
they noisily retreated back towards the ranch. My attention was then drawn
to an area only a few feet away directly in front of me. It was apparent
there was another squad of three men; they also immediately retreated back
up the hill. Six men emerged from the back sight line of the thicket and
all ran the 300 yards back to the vehicles.
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- We could see the men run to what was apparently the leader
of the squad where they conversed for a few seconds. A moment later 10
of the men jumped into one of the troop transport vehicles and drove down
the hill in our direction. They stopped directly in front of us on the
dirt road that parallels the border fence on the Mexican side.
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- Four men with rifles, M-16's and FAL's, jumped from the
truck and approached us on the fence. The cameras were rolling - on both
sides. As the men approached, one of them was taking photographs of us.
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- The leader approached, I said, "Hola, como estas;
buenos dias." He asked immediately if we were immigration. I told
him no. He then told us in Spanish it was prohibited for us to film them.
We told him we were media and we had the right to film. He became a bit
agitated at that point and asked for more specifics about who we were and
why we were here. I asked him the same question. He told us they were out
here protecting the border - just doing their job. We asked if they were
military, they did not respond. The leader seemed perplexed about who we
were and again asked what business we had in the area. We again replied
we were journalists covering the illegal immigration story. The leader
again said we should not be in this area.
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- None of the uniforms the men were wearing had patches,
names or insignias of any kind that would identify them as official Federales
or Mexican military personnel.
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- Two of the men standing next to the leader kept their
weapons in the ready position; the other had his rifle slung over his shoulder.
The leader again firmly asked us to stop filming. Caesar and I continued
to film with video cameras; Mike obeyed and lowered his 35 millimeter with
zoom lens. The leader told us we were "annoying and bothering his
group." He said we should leave the area. We did not reply. He said
"Gracias," and told us to have a good day and returned to the
vehicle and drove back up the hill to the ranch.
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- Moments later a pickup truck with the back cargo area
covered came down the road from Naco towards the ranch on the Mexico side.
The vehicle first slowed when the driver spotted us, then sped away towards
the ranch. As the driver passed the soldiers he waved and continued past
the ranch and drove behind it.
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- Both troop vehicles immediately loaded up and followed
the truck on the road behind the ranch and out of view of our cameras.
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- The leader told us they were patrolling the border, yet
just a few buildings away about half-a-dozen plain clothed civilians were
milling around a small adobe house tucked in the middle of the multi-building
compound. The house has been in use for years as the drop off, staging
area for groups of people who enter the United States illegally using the
San Pedro River Valley as their guide north.
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- Starting three hours after the face- to- face encounter
with the armed squad of men, CHD volunteers assisted Border Patrol with
locating a group of nine illegal entrants a half mile north of the Mexican
ranch. Two hours later another group of 10 illegals was rounded up by Border
Patrol after being tracked by CHD volunteers.
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- As of noon on Wednesday over 500 people have been documented
coming through the same area. Most used the ranch as their staging point.
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- The men dressed in olive drab uniforms are still there
too.
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