Minute Men

Im/migrant Agency Report

Student’s Name: Laura Szczublewski

A.      Title of agency or organization? Minuteman Project 

B.      Where is home base (city/state/country)? California. It patrols the boarder in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

C.      Date founded? Can’t find an actual date. However they seem relatively new. Most articles about this organization are dated 2003-2004 at the earliest I can find.  

D.      Names of key spokespersons/officers Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox

E.       What/who is key constituency or audience? Manly retired vets and people with a strong patriotic since. This group appeals to your patriotic side.  

F.       What are the agency’s main activities? It patrols the boarder in the areas mentioned above. They are all volunteers. They take there own time and drive down to the boarder to watch the boarder. They do not engage with the illegal immigrant. They simply call the boarder patrol and tell them what they see. This organization is always watched by anti racists groups like the Southern Poverty Center, which watches online activity of groups with questionable intentions. Also is a main target among news groups, Especially in Arizona. KPHO TV 5, sent two reporters to volunteer two days with actual members of the group. They “swayed” the story to look like the volunteers were not very peaceful at all. ( This is according to the Minuteman Project web site.)  

G.    Mission statement? (You may quote mission statement if available; use quotation marks!) “The Minuteman      Project  is not a call to arms, but a call to voices seeking a peaceful and respectable resolve to the chaotic     neglect by members of our local, state and federal governments charged with applying U.S. immigration law. It is a call to bring national awareness to the decades-long careless disregard of effective U.S. immigration law enforcement.  It is a reminder to Americans that our nation was founded as a nation governed by the "rule of law", not by the whims of mobs of ILLEGAL aliens who endlessly stream across U.S. borders.”

G.      What are the key im/migration issues of concern to this agency? Illegal Immigration. According to the web sites, they are all for immigration, but in the legal way. Not the illegal way. They push the fact that the illegal cost the tax payer’s money and are taking American jobs. 

H.      As best as you can determine, on what evidence/sources/research/community does this agency base its informational statements issued, press releases, reports, etc.? This group reaches nation wide with articles in the New York Times, the other side of the country and one of the most prominent US papers. You manly see information about this group on local television channels in the areas affected. Also you see it in the news papers of the affected areas.

I.        Any publications? (what types, sample titles; if online, give links) The members of the group write blogs, journal and articles while they are volunteering. All of these are accessible from their web site, this is the specific link: http://www.minutemanproject.com/articles/articles.html

J.        Give at least one citation about this agency from a newspaper article (preferably an Arizona newspaper). Use a citation index to research this e.g., Lexis Nexis, available from the Migration Course Web Page made by the Fletcher Library:  http://library.west.asu.edu/subjects/SOC/soc331.html  Briefly state what the article is about, and provide a quote from the article that includes the agency’s name and gives a good idea of this agency’s perspective on im/migration.  Note: not a quote from agency’s own web site! The article I chose was printed by a Tucson news paper on December 17, 2005, Saturday by the associated press by ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN.  This article talks about how this organization is gaining foothold, not only in the states with illegal immigration problems, they also are gaining members in other states. The report says “Since then the movement has taken hold, with Minuteman-inspired organizations being launched in several states, and even critics acknowledge that the participants are more than just a band of misfits, bigots and extremists.”  This group has had “Organizing requests have come from all 50 states, said Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair. Some groups focus on internal vigilance, such as an operation that uses volunteers with cameras to document people hiring illegal immigrants.”  The group has thousands of members, but critic’s claim that is online “members” not members who participate in meetings and other activities.

K.      Any other issues of interest about the agency? One of the founders is pushing for legislative reform. Jim Gilchrist ran for Congress but did not win this last election. According to MinutemanHQ.com, he is planning another go round. Also in the article I quoted from Lexis Nexis, he is thinking about give Arnold a run for his money in the re-election year.

L.       Is the agency noticeably pro or con immigration? (You may need to determine this from “reading around” in its position papers, press releases, news reports, etc) The agency seems to be pro immigration, but con illegal immigration. They claim to have immigrant members themselves, as well as members who have married immigrants.

M.     Web site? Give URL http://www.minutemanhq.com/project. 

Caution: Do not simply copy the agency’s own words. Instead, give synopsis based on your research.

If you have trouble locating information about your agency, contact Dr K for help!

What to do with your report: 1) turn in hard copy Feb 1.  2) Post to BB Discussion forum for this assignment (copy you’re A-N questions & answers and paste to message, do not send as an attachment). 3) Save your report to put on your Web Portfolio later.

 

Migration & Culture 2006 Contact? Laura Szczublewski