Congressman Jack Kingston - First District of Georgia

Contact: Press Staff

A Briefing From Chris Simcox, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Co-founder

Washington, May 12, 2006 - The co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps will be stopping by Rep. Kingston's Washington office later today. Congressman Kingston is back in the district, but his staff will be meeting with Chris and passing on the information to Congressman Kingston. Watch this space for an update.

UPDATE (12:52 PM): We just finished the meeting with Chris and his spokeswoman, Connie. They are going around briefing Capitol Hill offices about the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (different organization than the Minuteman Project) and to send a clear message to the House of Representatives: Enforcement First.

"In 1986, Ronald Reagan tried the Amnesty First--then Enforcement formula. It has failed. Clearly we must turn the formula around and enforce the borders first." -Chris Simcox "I like to use the Hurricane Katrina analogy. The Senate is trying to clean up the flood waters before we fix the broken levee" -Chris Simcox. "There's a 'bonzai run' for the border thanks to the McCain-Kennedy shamnesty bill." -Chris Simcox "The Border Patrol will tell you themselves that they are not stopping anyone. The crossers know that if you have the resolve and patience - you will get across the border." -Chris Simcox

The briefing was extremely helpful. Chris was aware that Congressman Kingston had sent a letter yesterday asking the Administration to investigate whether the U.S. Border Patrol had been aiding the Mexican government with surveillance information about the Minuteman patrols. Here are some general notes from the meeting which you may find interesting:

• Since September 11, 2001 - civilians have been patrolling the borders because there are millions of illegal aliens crossing every year.
• Volunteers work hand-and-hand with the U.S. Border Patrol. They are the "eyes" and the "night vision" of the border patrol. When civilian patrols see violators, they call-in the U.S. Border Patrol to enforce it.
• The U.S.-Mexico border is 2,000 miles long.
• There are currently 10,500 U.S. Border Patrol Agents. 1/3 of those agents work in "administrative functions, e.g., driving vehicles, monitoring cameras, etc." The other 2/3 are divided in to three 8-hour shifts. On top of that, out of the 8-hour shift, 6-hours are spent doing paperwork.
• There are 7,100 civilian volunteers and over 160,000 supporters of the Minuteman who send donations, supplies, etc.
• The Minuteman have "better equipment" than the U.S. Border Patrol including thermal imaging equipment and night-vision equipment.
• National Parks are the main entry points for drug smugglers and cartels. In fact, the federal government has posted signs in the parks which warn, "BEWARE: Armed Drug Dealers Frequent This Area."
• The Border Patrol apprehends 1-in-5 illegals attempting to cross the border.

In closing, Chris said:

"The volunteers--us--we want to go home. We want to be honorably relieved from duty by the United States military and the National Guard." -Chris Simcox