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Oct 20, 2003 "That was the battle cry at a meeting held on September 15th at another restaurant, this time in San Luis Arizona, a border town heavily populated by Mexican Americans". “We have to understand these vigilantes are coming” said San Luisan Fernie Quiroz to a group of 25 local residents and city leaders who said they are stepping up their efforts to combat the Tombstone based citizen patrol group led by Chris Simcox who was coming to Yuma to set up a group similar to his Cochise County Civil Homeland defense Group. Also attending the meeting was Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network, a Tucson based pro-immigrant group that has launched several campaigns aimed at finding Immigrant whose civil rights have been violated by various citizen groups patrolling the Cochise border with Mexico. To backtrack a little, this whole scenario began to unfold at 5:30 a.m. on July 31st in Gadsen, Arizona when two men, Matthew Hoffman, 23, Yuma. and Alexander Dumas, 26 of Big Bear Lake, California detained six illegal aliens at gunpoint – two women, a sixteen year old boy and three children. The woman and boy were in handcuffs when the men turned them over to Border Patrol agents. Chris Simcox, 41, leader of the Tombstone, AZ based Civil Homeland Defense of Cochise County, did come to Yuma, Arizona on October 1st to attend a protest and publicly stated the two men, Matthew Hoffman and Alexander Dumas should be considered heroes not criminals for protecting Americans from the real criminals who illegally cross our borders every day. This protest was being held in response to a news conference that was held in front of the courthouse on September 17th when local Yumans voiced their opposition to the Simcox and other extremist organizations who were trying to create a vigilante group in the area. The protest in front of the Yuma County courthouse began with a war of words between local residents, Simcox and Howard Garber, president of the American Civil Responsibilities Union, Inc, a California group involved in immigration issues and politics supporting the deportation of illegal immigrants. Garber encouraged local attendees in favor of a vigilante petrol group to create a plaque honoring Hoffman and Dumas for their “heroic” actions. Facing the out-of-town protestors was yet another out of town group, the Tucson based Humane Borders group plus Jesus Landeros a Yuma man who kicked off the argument by yelling, “Are we as Mexican Americans going to be able to go to the River( Colorado) to swim or have a picnic without being bothered by a vigilante group asking for our green cards or proof of citizenship?’ To which Garber responded, “When your people come over the border that way, illegally, it’s a crime and to stay here illegally is another crime. Our government is doing nothing to stop it. Why don’t you go back there if you like Mexico so much” Simcox, then, moved in to take over and asserted that, ”the locals here are fed up with the government’s failure to secure the country’s borders. They should tell everyone from local officials to the president of the United states of their anger”. He then, above the grumbling of dissidents on both sides of the issue, took questions from several local residents who expressed an interest in creating a local patrol. The protest ended in a “Mexican stand-off”. Next: Yuma County Officials Take A Stand Information for these articles on illegal immigration and its impact on America has been edited from the pages of "The Arizona Republic", "The Yuma Daily Sun", the Internet, news clips from TV stations KYEL, KYMA and interviews with local officials and citizens. What began as a three part series of articles on border immigration has almost become an anthology, now, as news breaks daily on these events. ------------ About the author: Bobbie Hart O’Neill is a retired print media journalist, CSU-Sacramento, ’74, with 40 years experience in the field. She has worked as a reporter, feature writer, columnist, public relations writer, magazine/newsletter editor and publisher. She is currently a freelance writer residing in Yuma, Arizona and has published a children’s book, written three screenplays and a novel. In addition, she is interested in civic affairs, politics, current events, ethnology and animals. Visit her blog or email Bobbie: bobbieo@digitaldune.net Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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