YEE HAW! Minuteman organizer claims 900 volunteer border watchers

Organizers of a volunteer border patrol group say nearly 900 people have signed up for the program, nearly twice the initial goal of the project. Jim Gilchrist, a retired California accountant behind the Minuteman Project, said Thursday that he had initially hoped to recruit 500 volunteers, but nearly 900 have signed up so far. "I'm elated to see that so many people are willing to come out," Gilchrist told the Tucson Citizen. Volunteers plan to conduct round-the-clock patrols in the San Pedro Valley, a popular smuggling corridor, during April. They say they'll call the U.S. Border Patrol if they find illegal immigrants. Douglas Mayor Ray Borane, however, was doubtful about the group's volunteer estimates. Actual turnout for similar organizations "always turns out to be much lower than their predictions," he said. Borane is concerned about the types of people the project will attract, fearing that some will be from openly racist groups that have shown interest in the project. "How are they going to screen these people?" he asked. "They won't know who they are, and they won't be able to control them." [more]