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TOMBSTONE - Emotions and opinions vary in Cochise County and beyond regarding the controversial Minuteman Project.
But no matter what the view, the border watch effort is set to start on Friday.
"Well, volunteers continue to pour in," said co-organizer Chris Simcox of Tombstone. "We have 1,100 confirmed RSVPs from people we've screened and deemed as responsible, rational citizens who understand that this is a peaceful political protest."
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The Minuteman Project is a monthlong endeavor where organizers plan to deploy civilian volunteers at Cochise County's U.S.-Mexico border, in turn reporting any illegal border activity to the U.S. Border Patrol. The project is focusing on the San Pedro Valley, a hot spot for illegal border crossings.
"The message is for President Bush and Congress to remember who they work for," he said.
But local law enforcement worry about unforeseen results, and the Border Patrol's official stance is it doesn't need the project's assistance.
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe said Wednesday during a speech in Tucson that the project will only complicate the efforts of border enforcement, as well as the issue itself.
Simcox said he and co-organizer Jim Gilchrist have contracted with private security officers for their own personal protection after receiving threats.
"We've got some personal security, for especially myself and Mr. Gilchrist, in case there's any violent opposition," he said.
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever has expressed concern about the two organizers' safety, as well as his concern for the many other participants, onlookers and Mexican nationals. And he has met with Minuteman Project organizers to tell them to obey the law or face the law.
Simcox said members of an anti-American, racist group from California "have threatened to come out and confront us with weapons. To instigate a confrontation to taint the mission."
"We must be exemplary in our behavior to succeed," he said.
The project's objective is to prove that saturating the border with patrol will prevent illegal immigration, he said. But, he said, that must be done scrupulously and peacefully to be seen as legitimate.
"Border Patrol is already seeing a decrease," he said, because "we have publicized that we're going to patrol."
The Tucson Sector has recorded 210,718 apprehensions since Jan. 1, according to Border Patrol Spokeswoman Andrea Zortman. She said this is a 6 percent increase of apprehensions from the first quarter of 2004.
And since March 14, she said on Friday, there had been a 1 percent drop in apprehensions, relative to the same 10-day period during 2004.
This, however, could be just as much a result of the recent increase of Border Patrol field personnel and equipment, and not necessarily because of next month's Minuteman Project, Zortman said.
Simcox said Minuteman collaborators will hold informal rallies next Saturday and Sunday, at both Douglas' and Naco's Border Patrol headquarters.
These rallies are to be "pro-Homeland Security" demonstrations, he said.
"We're inviting people to show support for the Border Patrol," Simcox said. "And demanding that the president give them our blessings on spending whatever it takes to support that border."
The message, he said, is directed toward Washington, D.C., not at Mexico City.
On April 16, there is scheduled another demonstration, which he called the "Boston Tea Party rally," to demonstrate against what Simcox calls "taxation misrepresentation" in terms of federal border-security spending as it relates to local taxpayers.
On Friday, those volunteers that show up in Tombstone for the project will spend all day being briefed at an orientation and registration seminar at Schieffelin Hall.
Official participants will be issued Minuteman identification cards, information packets and maps to their assigned patrol areas.
Simcox said estimations regarding the local economic boost anticipate about a half-million-dollar influx from visiting media, participants and curious onlookers.
"This is going to be a boom event for our local economy," Simcox said.
Tombstone Councilman Moe Sinsley agreed that it could be a windfall for Tombstone if all goes well.
"In talking to most of the motel owners, and the RV park owners, they have a lot of booking," Sinsley said.
But, he added, it remains to be seen whether all of these people arrive to fulfill their reservations.
"For a lot of people it will be their first time in, so there will be a curiosity factor," he said, which is a significant variable in predicting any economic impact.
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Gentry Braswell can be reached
at 515-4680 or by e-mail at gentry.braswell@svherald.com.
Ezai I. Martinez wrote on Jun 24, 2009 7:58 PM: