Border Militia Will Be
New Congressman’s First Order of Business
By Diane Sánchez

When he takes office in January, newly elected U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) plans to call for a federal investigation into the increasing number of armed civilians and militia groups patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border.

As vigilantes detain immigrants crossing illegally through the state, there is suspicion of their involvement in several execution-style murders in Southern Arizona.

"(U.S. Attorney General John) Ashcroft needs to investigate these militia groups. Their rhetoric is racist. Civil and human rights and INS procedures are being violated," Grijalva told Weekly Report.

Arizona Gov. Jane Hall's press secretary James Ahlers asserted that the vigilantes are primarily coming in from Texas, but added that residents who own land on the border "have a right to protect their property."

Sonora Gov. Armando López Nogales has asked the U.S. government to investigate, pointing to the Barnette brothers of Arizona, who made international headlines this year for holding migrants at gunpoint.

A recent editorial by publisher Chris Simtox of The Tumbleweed of Tombstone urged "a public call to arms" and encouraged recruiting residents for the "Citizens' Border Patrol Militia."

Federal guidelines require the U.S. Border Patrol to prevent private citizens from detaining or transporting immigrants.