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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Minutemen: Taking stand along border I'm no vigilante, says volunteer, 70 For Wanda Weatherford it's a battle for the American middle class. That's why the 70-year-old Littleton grandmother drove to the Mexican border last Friday and joined the Minuteman Project. "Young people are so busy working. As a senior citizen I need to pick up the ball and run with it," said Weatherford on Thursday. She returned home Sunday. The Minuteman Project's volunteers will spend a day to several weeks through April on a 23-mile stretch of desert to stop immigrants from crossing into the U.S. Working round the clock in shifts, the volunteers have been alerting the U.S. Border Patrol when they see people moving toward the border from Mexico. "I've heard of people in construction now who can't find work here," said Weatherford. "It isn't right. It's the destruction of the middle class." By Thursday, there had been no confrontations between the Minuteman Project volunteers and immigrants, the U.S. Border Patrol said. Weatherford and her 30-year-old daughter, who declined to be identified, took a noon spotter shift Friday and a 6 a.m. shift Saturday. Sitting in lawn chairs near Naco, Ariz., Weatherford scanned the flat horizon of mesquite bushes and desert littered with empty water bottles and clothing. "We had binoculars and walkie-talkies," she said. "The media kept saying we were vigilantes. "I wish they had a picture of my face, a 70-year-old woman," said Weatherford, who was badly sunburned the first day. "All the people I meet were law-abiding citizens with a concern for their country and protecting the middle class," she said. She didn't see anyone trying to sneak over the border. "We did see a group of people, including a reporter from Mexico carrying camera equipment with people wearing orange suits that were giving out water to people out there," she said. The group disappeared into the bushes when they saw the volunteer patrols, she said. "It was very hot. The sand was blowing. It was not like a tailgate party," Weatherford said. "But you were accomplishing something. "We were doing the job that our government was supposed to do," said Weatherford. One day, a local woman stopped by to thank them for being there, she said. The Minuteman Project's spokesman is Mike McGarry of Aspen. He's returned to Colorado to resume his job as a maintenance man. He said all volunteers were individually interviewed. The volunteers approved are mostly retired people, military veterans and former law enforcement officers, McGarry said. "Some people have guns, but most don't," he said. "The weapon of choice is a video camera. I didn't have a gun because I'd shoot my foot off." He said the Minuteman Project seeks jobs and fair wages for Americans. "I do work that Americans don't want - building maintenance," he said. "The illegals have downed wages and benefits for Americans." "Racism is not driving this," said McGarry. "These people are conservatives who voted for Bush. I bet a lot of the volunteers sit in their lawn chairs and exchange pictures of their grandkids." frazierd@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5308
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#2. To: Zipporah (#0)
Who's the fat kid on "Simpons" who mainly just says "Ha-Ha!" ?
Nelson Muntz
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