Minuteman Project

The Minuteman Project is a self-appointed civilian militia whose objective is to police the U.S. northern and southern borders to report illegal border-crossings. Formed in April 2005 in Arizona, the organization is led by Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox and, in less than a year, it opened new chapters in New Mexico, California, Texas, Michigan, Vermont, and Minnesota. The group operates with volunteer work, and their favorite candidates are former military and law enforcement personnel, retired firefighters, radio operators, and computer specialists.

The Minuteman Project takes its name from the Minutemen, members of an informal militia who fought in the American Revolution against the British and who were ready to respond to a call to arms at a minute's notice. The Minuteman Project allegedly takes on the patriotic mission of the historic Minutemen to secure the United States from the intrusion of terrorists and criminals. According to its leaders, the task of the organization is to fill a void left by the government's poor performance in providing homeland security. To this end they claim that their sole intention is to aid the U.S. Border Patrol by reporting illegal activities carried out by migrants. They also police U.S. citizens who harbor and exploit undocumented individuals. Besides setting encampments equipped with sophisticated surveillance gear, the Minutemen organize rallies and campaigns such as the “Save the American Worker Week,” a national effort held in March 2006 against the “guest worker amnesty” bill under consideration in the Senate.

The Minutemen's military-style actions raise concerns within activist groups and some governmental offices, who are alarmed by the group's fascist politics. Many activist organizations, such as SWARM the Minutemen and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, have shaped a broad movement of opposition to the Minutemen's politics of intolerance. These organizations claim that the Minutemen's close ties to neo-Nazi groups in the United States are yet another sign of the underlying politics of racism that informs their actions. Besides their repudiation campaigns, these activist groups enact various tactics to monitor Minutemen behavior toward immigrants at the border and simultaneously warn border-crossers of any imminent risk.

Although the Minutemen claim to be a peaceful movement for justice that resorts to activist protest and [Page 963]direct action to do the job that the government is not doing, their action adds to the militarization of U.S. border zones. Many vigilante groups existed in the past, but the concern about homeland security since September 11, 2001, triggered the formation of right-wing groups that act as border defenders amid what they consider state inefficiency. The Sensenbrenner Bill, which makes undocumented presence alone a felony subject to not only deportation but also imprisonment and, further, criminalizes anyone who offers services to undocumented individuals, and Jim Gilchrist's candidacy for the midterm congressional election of 2005, show how the once marginal anti-immigration movement is becoming more hegemonic as it gives and receives support from institutional political actors.