- PHOENIX (AP) - Volunteers
for an effort to patrol the Mexican border reported their first sighting
of suspected illegal immigrants, resulting in 18 arrests, authorities said
Sunday.
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- Participants in the Minuteman Project spotted the migrants
Saturday near Naco as the volunteers were surveying the border to familiarize
themselves with area. When agents arrived, they apprehended 18 people,
Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame said.
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- "You observe them, report them and get out of the
way," said Mike McGarry, a spokesman for the project, which begins
Monday and is to continue for a month.
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- The volunteers reported another illegal immigrant after
he wandered onto the campus of a Bible college near the community of Palominas,
where about 100 Minuteman participants were staying.
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- (AP) Todd Evans, at left, of Coshise County, Ariz., talks
to other demonstrators protesting outside of...
- Full ImageThe man walked in and said he needed food and
water. Volunteers helped him and notified federal agents, who picked him
up, McGarry said.
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- The man was weary from traveling but did not need medical
attention, Adame said.
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- "It's not uncommon to have aliens that have had
enough," Adame said. "They'll walk up to someone's house and
ask them to call us. They're waiting on the porch when we arrive."
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- Minuteman volunteers planned to start regular patrols
Monday, fanning out across 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley to watch the
border and report any illegal activity to federal agents. It's an exercise
some law enforcement authorities and others fear could lead to vigilante
violence.
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- McGarry said about 200 people would be in place for Monday's
patrols, although human rights activists and some authorities have questioned
whether the project will attract as many volunteers as organizers expect.
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- Law enforcement officials said the volunteers were keeping
the peace, despite concerns they might become confrontational with immigrants.
Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet and some plan to
be armed.
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- "Everything seems to be going well," said Carol
Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.
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- The Arizona-Mexico border is considered the most vulnerable
stretch of the 2,000-mile southern border. Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants
caught by the Border Patrol last year, 51 percent crossed into the country
at the Arizona border.
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- Minuteman Project
- http://www.minutemanproject.com
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