Migrants Vow To Defy Minutemen

• Using 9-11 as Pre-Text for Hate: The Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States Legally. It was the fact that they entered the country Legally -- and thus did not arouse suspicion -- that made them dangerous. [more]

The number of Mexican migrants trying to sneak into the United States through the Arizona border has dropped by half since hundreds of American civilians began guarding the area earlier this week, say Mexican officials assigned to protect their citizens. But that doesn't mean the migrants have given up. Most remain determined to enter the United States and say they will simply find other places to cross. Before Minuteman Project volunteers began patrolling, Mexican officials encountered at least 400 undocumented migrants daily. On Monday, the second day Minutemen were present, they spotted just 198, said Bertha de la Rosa of Grupo Beta, a Mexican government-sponsored group that discourages people from crossing illegally and aids those stranded in the desert. "The fact that we're not seeing them here doesn't mean they are not trying to cross," said de la Rosa, the group's coordinator in Agua Prieta, a town across the border from Douglas, Ariz. "They say they will look for another place or wait awhile — but they are not giving up." [more]

• Minuteman organizer James Gilchrist defends white supremacists from Alan Colmes: "Why are you picking on them?" [more]
• Migrants press on despite observers at Arizona border [more]
  
• FBI, civilian group are concerned about racists joining border sweeps [more]
• Border Watchers Capture Their Prey -- the Media [more]
• Pictured above:  Minuteman Project supporters such as Deborah Sattler of Mission Viejo and opponents such as Gabriel Mondragon of Taos, N.M., engaged in a duel of words over the 30-day border project that began yesterday. [more]