HispanicVista Columnists

An e-newsletter monitoring extremism and the anti-immigration movement
For the week of January 22, 2008

[AZ] Cochise County Militia Steps Up Tactics
Sierra Vista Herald / January 17, 2008
Members of the border watch group Cochise County Militia will begin carrying rifles and shotguns and wearing face paint and battle dress uniforms while on patrol, according to director and founder Bill Davis.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=152#1

[MO] Minuteman Appointee Resigns In Kansas City
The Kansas City Star / January 22, 2008
Mayoral appointee and Minuteman Civil Defense Corps member Frances Semler resigned from the Kansas City Parks Board after minority organizations pulled major conventions from the city and threatened a boycott.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=152#2

[CA] Anti-Minuteman Videographer Alleges Police Harassment
OC Weekly / January 17, 2008
Naui Huitzilopochtli, who frequently films anti-immigration demonstrations, claims he was mocked, searched and accused of being a gang member by police officers.
>>
http://newsletter.splcenter.org/cgi-bin4/DM/y/aBGXw0FNuiR0L1h0FmUl0Ai">splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=152#3

[UT] Minutemen Pressure Utah Legislature
The Salt Lake Tribune / January 21, 2008
Commenting on more than a dozen proposals to curb illegal immigration now before the Utah Legislature, Utah Minuteman Project spokesman Eli Cawley said, "If I see someone with 'brown skin' and has an accent...I think they're illegal. I'm forced to discriminate."
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=152#4

For the week of January 15, 2008

[AZ] Business Leaders Accuse Minutemen Of Bringing "Terror" To Neighborhood
The Arizona Republic / January 11, 2008
Gun-toting Minutemen who regularly protest outside a day labor center in Phoenix verbally harass anyone "that seems illegal or don't seem supportive of them," according to local residents and business owners.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=151#1

[CA] San Diego Minutemen "Adopt Highway" Near Border Checkpoint
San Diego Union-Tribune / January 13, 2008
California's state transportation department outraged Latino groups and anti-bigotry activists by allowing the San Diego Minutemen, an extremist group known for its confrontational, racially charged protests, to "adopt" a stretch of Interstate 5.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=151#2

[CA] New Minuteman Group Recruits Young Adults
Orange County Register / January 2, 2008
Operation Generation, a new chapter of the Minuteman Project formed by 32-year-old Costa Mesa, Calif. electrician Brian Gilmore, aims to lure 20- and 30-somethings into a
movement dominated by middle-age and senior citizens.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=151#3

[WY] Wyoming Minuteman Chapters Hold First Meetings
Jackson Hole Star-Tribune / January 12, 2008
Newly formed Minuteman Civil Defense Corps chapters in Casper and Newcastle, Wyo. held informational meetings for prospective members that featured screenings of the film "Islam: What the West Needs to Know."
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=151#4

For the week of Jan. 23, 2007

[CA] Push comes to shove for Antelope Valley Minutemen
Antelope Valley Press / Jan. 21, 2007
SaveOurState coordinator Don Silva scuffled with a teenage Hispanic girl he called "ghetto trash" and used a bullhorn to order day laborers to fetch him tacos during a boisterous protest organized by the Antelope Valley Independent Minutemen.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=99

[TX] Imprisoned ex-agents 'intended to shoot Mexicans'
Houston Chronicle / Jan. 19, 2007
Two Congressmen accused the Department of Homeland Security of wrongly withholding an investigative report revealing that two ex-Border Patrol agents imprisoned last week for shooting a drug smuggler knew the man was unarmed and posed no threat. splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=99#2

[AZ] Proposed legislation would outlaw armed vigilante patrols
The Daily Dispatch / Jan. 20, 2007
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Phoenix) is sponsoring a bill that would make
it a crime for any individual or group "not affiliated with law enforcement" to conduct patrols "to detect alleged illegal activity" while carrying firearms.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=99#3

[IA] Minutemen protest superhighway
The Des Moines Register / Jan. 18, 2007
Members of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps voiced their opposition to a proposed highway linking the U.S. with Canada and Mexico, claiming its construction would lead to the loss of their rights as U.S. Citizens.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=99#4

[PA] Laws targeting immigrants face legal setbacks
The Associated Press / Jan. 20, 2007
State and federal judges are blocking municipal ordinances that fine landlords for renting to illegal immigrants.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=99#5

For the week of Jan. 17, 2007

[USA] Website engages in "virtual vigilantism"
Tucson Citizen / January 15, 2007
Critics say Wehirealiens.com is on shaky legal ground with publishing anonymous, unverified accusations of specific businesses employing illegal immigrants.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=98

[TX] U.S. Border Watch vows to shut down labor sites
KHOU News / January 14, 2006
U.S. Border Watch members clashed with day laborers outside a shopping center the anti-immigration group targeted as part of its campaign to "bring the closure of every day laborer site in Houston."
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=98#2

[TX] Ex-Border Patrol agents report to prison
El Paso Times / January 17, 2006
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean began serving 11 and 12-year sentences, respectively, for shooting a drug smuggler in the buttocks as he fled back to Mexico.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=98#3

[USA] Pizza chain gets death threats for accepting pesos
The Coloradoan / January 14, 2007
Dallas-based Pizza Patron, a chain with 59 stores, has received death
threats and hate mail since announcing its new policy of accepting
pesos from its 60 percent Hispanic clientele.
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=98#4

For the week of January 8, 2008
[MO] Minutemen Founder's Wife Admits Fabricating Rape Story
The Kansas City Star / December 21, 2007
The wife of one of the founders of the Ozarks Minutemen admitted to police that she lied to investigators when she claimed that three Latino men broke into her house, then raped and shot her.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=150

[AL] Alabama Minutemen Attend Hostile Immigration Hearing
The Huntsville Times / January 4, 2007
At a packed public hearing where Hispanic speakers were taunted and jeered, the leader of the North Alabama Minutemen linked immigration to drugs in schools and tuberculosis.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=150#2

[CA] Ted Hayes Fails To Rally Blacks Against Immigrants
Los Angeles Times / December 31, 2007
Longtime homeless advocate Ted Hayes has made little headway in uniting urban blacks against illegal immigration since aligning himself with the Minutemen and the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
http://newsletter.splcenter.org/cgi-bin4/DM/y/aBGJQ0FNuiR0L1h0FkY70Az">splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=150#3

[AZ] Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Founder Besieged From Within
Arizona Daily Star / December 23, 2007
Five years after he began his anti-immigration crusade, Chris Simcox is under sustained attack from legions of followers who accuse him of betraying the very movement he helped to spawn.
>> splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=150#4

LEARN MORE

Want to learn more about the anti-immigration movement? Read these articles from the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report:

*** Deadly Force ***
A profile of Roy Warden, a hard line anti-immigration activist who routinely threatens Latinos with death
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=671

*** The Nativists ***
A survey of hardliners who are fanning the flames of anti-immigration extremism
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=701

*** The Little Prince ***
An investigative profile of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps leader Chris Simcox
splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?site_area=1&aid=149

*** Playing Rough ***
Profiles of some of the more than 40 anti-immigration vigilante outfits formed in the first six months after the Minuteman Project
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=571

*** The Puppeteer ***
A report detailing links between white supremacist organizations and anti-immigration groups backed by Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) founder John Tanton
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=93

*** Open Season ***
A 2003 feature on anti-immigration vigilantes in the pre-Minuteman era
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=19

*** The Battle of Georgiafornia ***
A feature on the hate crime backlash against Hispanic immigrants in Georgia
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=505

*** Arizona Showdown ***
A feature on the landmark April, 2005 Minuteman Project in Arizona
splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=557

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Immigration Watch
c/o Intelligence Project
Southern Poverty Law Center
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