6/19/2006 4:00:00 AM Minuteman leader details stance to county Republicans
By JOANNA DODDER The Daily Courier
PRESCOTT Chris Simcox told Yavapai County Republicans this past week that he helped create the Minuteman movement after seeing paramilitary-style escorts alongside caravans driving through the Organ Pipe National Monument in 2001.
When he asked monument and Border Patrol officials what was going on, they said the caravans were drug dealers and Simcox should just look the other way, he related.
Today, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has approximately 40 chapters in 39 states, said Simcox, who is a frequent commentator on the Fox News channel.
Simcox told a packed audience at a Yavapai Republican Men's Forum luncheon in Prescott that he didn't come to talk about immigration.
"That's not our focus," he said. "Our focus is why we have illegal immigration: unsecured borders."
It's the biggest national security problem this country faces, and it's not a racial or political issue, he said. Columbian, Mexican and even Russian drug dealers rule our southern border, he said.
"People are dying while this debate is going on," including illegal immigrants, he said.
The Minutemen, which he called the "nation's largest neighborhood watch group," has spotted and reported nearly 13,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol, he said.
The Minutemen also have built nearly 10 miles of border fence that's styled after Israel's Gaza Strip fence, with four layers of razor wire and fences, he said. The group has hired a contractor to help because it's having trouble recruiting volunteers during the extreme June heat.
The fence has cost approximately $300,000 per mile, he said. Considering the U.S.-Mexico border is 1,980 miles long and less than 300 miles now have a fence, it would cost about $510 million to finish the fence, he estimated after his speech. That's only half of what the federal government spends each month in Iraq, he said.
The Minutemen want a fence along the entire border, along with 30,000 to 40,000 National Guard troops that can guard the border instead of just doing support work as they are now, Simcox said.
Simcox drew a standing ovation at the start of his speech and several loud episodes of clapping. The Republicans didn't cheer, however, when he mentioned that he left the party and registered as an Independent to make a statement about how he disagrees with Bush administration policy. Some in the audience clapped when he said Bush and others are wrong to seek to reward illegal immigrants for breaking the law, by offering them a path to citizenship.
The U.S. Senate put forth a bill to make Bush happy, not citizens, he said. He said Arizona House Bill 2577 included too many parts and officials should focus first on securing the border.
About a half-dozen Minutemen attended Simcox's speech.
"You name it, I've seen it," said Chino Valley resident David Jones, a line boss for the Minutemen on the border. He's seen plenty of trash and dead bodies since he joined the group last year, he said.
"They don't come to this country to benefit our country, they come here to take from this country," he said.
To learn more about the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, visit its Web site at www.minutemanHQ.com.
Simcox said he co-founded the Minuteman Project with Jim Gilchrist, and now his group focuses on border activity while the Project group focuses on immigration issues.
Contact the reporter at jdodder@prescottaz.com
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, October 14, 2007
Article comment by:
Paul Miller
My hope is that Chris and Glenn will heal their differences!! As our terrific supporter J.D. Hayworth says: We need to do whatever it takes to STOP Illegal Immigration!! Perhaps, Chris could be more careful in his actions and what he says, but I truly believe Chris is a terrific soldier agaisnst illegal aliens as is Glenn Spencer! Again, my hope is that Chris and Glenn will unite or at the very least...keep quiet about each other and continue their passion towards STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION before it's too late!!
