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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Minuteman area group calls it quits The first Texas chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps disbanded Monday. "The Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was dissolved today," chapter president Kenneth Buelter said in a brief e-mail sent to the Victoria Advocate on Monday evening. The e-mail included no further explanation and directed all comments to either Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas president Al Garza or to a representative of the Falfurrias chapter. Repeated attempts to contact Buelter on Monday evening were unsuccessful. Buelter notified the Texas leader of his resignation and the dissolution of the Goliad-area chapter Monday evening, Garza said in a phone interview from Arizona. "(The e-mail) really doesn't spotlight anything in particular," Garza said. The e-mail simply said things weren't working out, he added. The Goliad chapter became the first Texas affiliate of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps a few months after a group of residents in south Goliad County organized to address the problems of illegal immigrants crossing their property. Property owners began operating under the Minuteman banner in June. Other Texas chapters started not long afterward. Buelter confirmed Friday that the Goliad-area chapter would not conduct observation activities in this area in concert with a large October effort planned by the national group. Problems with illegal immigrants crossing property in the area have been greatly reduced thanks to vigilant neighbors and strong efforts by law enforcement to mitigate the problem, Buelter had said. Instead, the 25 or so members of the Goliad-area chapter would travel south to help the Falfurrias chapter during the October event, he said in the previous interview. Former Texas and Goliad chapter president Bill Parmley, one of the group's original organizers, said in a July interview that the group would conduct observation activities mostly on private land along a line stretching from Port Lavaca, through Victoria, on to Goliad, then following U.S. Highway 59 to a point near Laredo. Parmley resigned abruptly in late July alleging racism in the local chapter and a lack of organization on the national level. In subsequent interviews Parmley stated the racism must run through to the national chapter since it had failed to take action against the Goliad group. "I have seen how they have not tried to carve the cancer out of the (Goliad area) group. I can only assume that (racism) is a part of their agenda," Parmley said previously. He also accused Buelter of belonging to a group conspiring to remove all Hispanics from elected office in Goliad County. Garza, who worked for more than 30 years as a private investigator, said he looked into the allegations and found them groundless. "We are not racists in any way, shape, form or fashion," Buelter, who became president of the Goliad chapter when Parmley resigned, said at the time. Buelter previously served as the group's vice president. "Watch what we do and how we operate, that will speak much louder than Mr. Parmley's words." The Arizona-based Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was founded shortly after the Minuteman Project, a month-long border observation event in Arizona this April. After the event, organizer Chris Simcox founded the organization to conduct similar border observation efforts, while fellow organizer Jim Gilchrist organized a smaller group called the Minuteman Project Operation Spotlight to focus on employers who hire illegal immigrants. The two groups are affiliated organizations. # Thomas Doyle is a reporter with the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6511 or at tdoyle@vicad.com.
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#1. To: All (#0)
Actually, Texas Minutemen was the first Border Watch group to form, they were meeting in the third week of April having just gotten back from the Project in AZ. I'm not sure what the final issues were but the Texas Minutemen are doing just fine, volunteers are signing up every day. I was on the phone with our point men last night for the El Paso Border Watch Operation and it is right on schedule. If anyone want to go to the Texas border in October, they are welcome. You can sign up here. Texas WILL be represented in October.
#2. To: StarShadow (#1)
They won't say what went wrong, but they are all still helping out and that's what matters.
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