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| Border Watch Volunteers Form Chapter in New Mexico | |||
| 2005-06-11 | |||
| New Mexico now has its own chapter of volunteers who plan to patrol the state's border with Mexico as part of the Minuteman Project. The group announced in a news release Wednesday that Clifford Alford of Organ will serve as the chapter's leader. The group drew international attention in April when volunteers showed up in Arizona to prove the border could be secured simply by putting more personnel there. Organizers say the group alerted the U.S. Border Patrol to suspicious behavior and helped catch 335 immigrants. New Mexico is the last of four states along the border to organize a Minuteman chapter. No dates for patrols have been set, said James Chase, who helped organize patrols in Arizona and founded what he calls the U.S. Border Patrol Auxiliary. Critics, including U.S. Border Patrol officials, have said the Minutemen are little more than a nuisance and distraction that attracted attention from the media and from civil rights groups watching for possible rights violations. The announcement of a New Mexico chapter has created unease among some Las Cruces residents. Chase emphasized that the organization isn't a militia and that racism and violence by any member will not be tolerated. "We're just a neighborhood watch that's on the border," he said.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said he isn't sure about the benefits of having the Minutemen on New Mexico's border. "I don't know that a Minutemen organization is the best solution to the rampant illegal immigration problems on our border, but I can clearly understand the mounting frustration in the region," Domenici said. The senators and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., sent a letter Wednesday to Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner asking that security be increased along New Mexico's border. The letter said New Mexicans have growing concerns about their safety and the security of their property.
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| Posted by:Pappy |
| #18 Another Zonie here. Agreed, that Jumping Cholla is almost Islamic in its evilness. I know someone who planted some below ever window to deter burglars. And it really does "jump," too. When a segment breaks off and dries up, it become very light, while all the spines give it a huge surface area. The draft from your legs walking past will cause it to take off and smack you in the calf. And it's a real pain to get out of a Samoyed's coat. The only problem is that is spreads. While not as kudzu-like as Prickly Pear, it's of the same genus (Opuntia) and seems to be able to grow and reproduce no matter what you do. It would probably grow in motor oil... Octotillo isn't really a cactus, BTW. It's more like a desert rose bush or something. It's not a succulant and has real leaves (right after a rain, then they fall off again). People do cut the stems, then wire them up, then replant them, as a "living fence." You can buy living fence in the nurseries. But it requires good drainage. Depressions or heavy clay soil drown it out. I don't know what the border dirt is like. Prickly Pear is somewhat down on the nastiness scale, but some species have little fine hairs that break off and cause no end of unpleasantness when brushed against. I use gloves that are going to be thrown away when dealing with these kinds of cacti, since they get infested with spines and hairs and are useless. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-06-11 22:00 |
| #17 It sounds like we have the beginnings of our Southern Border fence, then. I think the best way to start would be for the Minutemen to assist private landowners in digging trenches and planting cholla, blue agave and ocotillo cactus therein. Announce it as a plan to increase the native flora in an attempt to increase the biodiversity of the area, and the Greens should cheer mightily, and might even be induced to help (perhaps a grant from the Sierra Club or Audobon Society for the plant materials, or offer the opportunity for their members to do the annual birdcount near the new plantings, to see how much difference it makes -- woo hoo! lots of people with binoculars, and nothing worse than a bunch of Sierra Clubbers angry at the ignorant tramping through their wilderness. Add some milkweed for the migrating Monarch butterflies, and the illegals will be taking their lives in their hands.) And certainly the Border Patrol and Vincente Fox can't complain if private individuals choose to plant cactus gardens on their own property. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-06-11 21:58 |
| #16 Not a single border Governor has suggested putting some of his State's National Guard on the border. Texas did have US troops monitoring the border in the mid-90s for drug-running. They were withdrawn after a Mexican herder was killed (he was plinking with a .22 and put several rounds near a camo'd observation position). Two of the states have Democrat governors (AZ- Janet Napolitano, NM - Bill Richardson). CA is governed by a Republican, but the rest of the State government is run by Democrats. They won't dare upset the 'Hispanic bloc' Texas simply has a different cultural attitude about illegal immigration. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-06-11 21:52 |
| #15 LOL - Moose - you've been there...let me not share a nasty Ocotillo ATV wipe out... damn...bed of thorns would've been a pleasure |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-11 21:31 |
| #14 I am not unique here for really, really detesting cholla (pronounced "choy-a"). As a kid I wondered why boys with buzz haircuts carried combs--to discover that combs are a great tool for getting cholla balls off of you. A friend had to have his kneecap surged because he got some thorns under it, which inspired me to make my own chaps--very thick leather and cammo print--stylish. From experience, I have learned that cholla thorns go right through denim and the canvas of jungle boots, and can even penetrate the tongue of jump boots--to get you between the laces. When dead, the balls break into little pieces and act as tiny caltrops that nail you if you sit or lie down on them. Last but not least, when you pull out the thorns, the tip breaks off inside and stays there until it "pimples" out. Not even the Indians ever came up with something practical to do with the damn things. They make a formidable barrier, especially when intersperced with 'bayonet'-style cactus. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-11 19:51 |
| #13 jumping cholla is nasty shit, and grows all the way to the SD coast....that and others is why cowboys wore chaps... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-11 19:21 |
| #12 I think we need to surround RB with Spammish Bayonet. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-11 19:19 |
| #11 cholla, "jumping cactus" is an evil monster. With no known practical purpose, its easily-detached balls are covered with extremely sharp, barbed hooks. And no matter what you do to cholla, you make *more* cholla: burning, shotgunning, run it over with your car a bunch, and all you get is MORE cholla. I also highly recommend blue agave, as its long, thick leaves have thick, straight 1-3" long thorns on the end and large, sawtooth thorns on the side that can cut through denim. Ocotillo cactus has tubes covered with long thorns and is even used as fencing, when the tubes are wired together; often the detached tubes will re-root in the soil, giving you an 8' tall fence of cactus. Sounds like your handle should be The Cactus Guy |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-06-11 18:25 |
| #10 Tumbleweed is just voluminous, it is not much of an impediment at all. (N.B.: it has one of the fastest water-to-cellulose conversions in the plant kingdom.) However cholla, "jumping cactus" is an evil monster. With no known practical purpose, its easily-detached balls are covered with extremely sharp, barbed hooks. And no matter what you do to cholla, you make *more* cholla: burning, shotgunning, run it over with your car a bunch, and all you get is MORE cholla. I also highly recommend blue agave, as its long, thick leaves have thick, straight 1-3" long thorns on the end and large, sawtooth thorns on the side that can cut through denim. Ocotillo cactus has tubes covered with long thorns and is even used as fencing, when the tubes are wired together; often the detached tubes will re-root in the soil, giving you an 8' tall fence of cactus. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-11 18:14 |
| #9 Tumbleweed is, interestly enough, Russian Thistle |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-11 18:03 |
| #8 Isn't tumbleweed native to that part of the world? I was under the impression that the reason cowboys wear leather chaps is to protect against its thorns. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-06-11 17:02 |
| #7 The problem with the current wall ideas are that they are temporaries. If there is just a wall, then once it is breached, it is easy to pass. But a trench filled with blue agave, cholla, and other such cactus is a self-replenishing border impediment. In other circumstances, the US military is even considering a type of nasty tall hedge, that does not burn easily, and is covered in inch-long thorns, instead of fences for some installations. But I doubt such a hedge would grow in the Sonora. Anyway, you put such plants in a deep trench *before* the fence and you create a multiple obstacle. Even if you get through the cactus, you face a high wall of earth with a fence on top of it. Since it doesn't rain very much, it would be years before the trench starts to collapse, even more if you spray the walls with inexpensive, water resistant glue. But the idea is just to make it psychologically difficult, not impassable. You cannot stop *all* the illegal, but you can cut down their numbers to sane levels. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-11 16:08 |
| #6 Sa Diego section - triple steel fence and teh action overrode Ca Coastal commission prohibition against filling in Smuggler's Cyn and Goat Cyn to make a smoother/more enforceable swath....imagine that, the lefties used the enviro laws to deter border enforcement, and the Patriot Act reigned supreme |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-11 16:07 |
| #5 Didn't one of the latest bills authorize just that? (A wall, that is.) |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-06-11 14:57 |
| #4 There may be a point to the "wall" idea. Since much of the trespassed land is private property, all that would be needed would be owners' permission to erect a difficult to breach wall. It could be a combination of things, a deep trench, maybe filled with sharp cactus, with a wall on the other side. The idea would not be to make it impassable, but to make it so difficult for people on foot as to not be worth the effort. Remember that every square inch of corridor denied to them channels them into smaller and smaller corridors, making them easier to stop. Much of the border is impassable, with no towns on either side in walking distance. Bottom line: All you really need is some earth-moving equipment to dig trenches with. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-11 13:28 |
| #3 Youre right, both parties seem to be dragging their feet on this. Despite a seemingly overwhelming majority of people who want it handled, and now. There seems to be a mad dash for our border in the last few years. I still think we need a wall like Israel is building. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-06-11 13:05 |
| #2 At the rate at which Congress is addressing the illegal tide, we will be drowning before long. We need new ideas to force them into action. Otherwise it may take something as grotesque as a WMD attack to dislodge the Snot-Ball-Congress™. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-06-11 12:58 |
| #1 Not a single border Governor has suggested putting some of his State's National Guard on the border. It might even be directly paid for by the federal government, if it is called "training". And the actual numbers of NG wouldn't be terribly much, maybe just a Company out for a two-week rotation, spread thin in the highest density migration corridor. Just give them a few weapons, and issue rations, water and hand-held radios. It would give them a chance to brush up on their radio communications' skills. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-11 10:37 |