Minutemen by Any Other Name

The Minutemen return to the U.S.-Mexico border:

To some, they are grass-roots citizen activists who are helping bring much-needed attention to the problem of border security. To others, they are vigilantes who fan the flames of xenophobia and intolerance.

Either way, the Minuteman Project is back and ready to send 1,200 of its Civil Defense Corps volunteers into the Arizona desert for a month-long border vigilance campaign beginning today.

“We’re going to get out there and do the same thing we’ve always done: observe, spot and report,” said Al Garza, the national executive director of the Minutemen and a resident of Huachuca City. “And we’re not going to let up, no matter what anybody says.”

And the usual suspects aren't happy:

Cecile Lumer, a pro-migrant activist from the local Citizens for Border Solutions group, joined in an ACLU-sponsored effort last year to monitor the Minutemen in Cochise County for civil rights abuses. She said she would be doing the same this year.

“We’re not hiding or anything — we go out there and watch them and they know we’re there,” she said. “Basically, it’s to see that they don’t harm anybody.”

You know, if these guys were driving around your neighborhood to keep an eye on things and call the police if there was something suspicious, you wouldn't call them "minutemen", they'd be a "neighborhood watch."