Border watch begins

TOMBSTONE, Ariz. — Closely watched by nervous governments on both sides of the border, hundreds of anti-immigrant activists fanned out into the desert of southern Arizona Saturday, launching a self-styled citizen patrol to spot illegal immigrants sneaking into the United States.

The 400 or so volunteers of what's known as the Minuteman Project got an enthusiastic send-off from U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., one of the nation's harshest critics of immigration policy.

Tancredo dismissed critics who say the activists are taking the law into their own hands.

"We are saying to our government, 'please enforce the law.' That's not a radical idea, that's not a vigilante idea," said Tancredo, who got a standing ovation Friday at a packed meeting before the patrols began.

"It's an American concept," he said.

On the Mexican side of the border, patrols of soldiers were trying Saturday to dissuade immigrants from crossing into areas east of Tucson, Ariz., that the activists plan to patrol.

On the U.S. side, the Border Patrol said it didn't want the activists' help.

"We don't support this; we don't condone it," said Andrea Zortman, a Border Patrol spokesman. "We feel they are going to be more of a hindrance to our job than a help."

None of that dampened the enthusiasm of the participants, some from as far away as Florida and New York, who descended on the border town of Tombstone in RVs and rental cars, trailed by scores of reporters and a dozen satellite TV trucks.

Over the next month, participants will staff fixed outposts and conduct roving patrols. Organizers say that many will be armed. They have strict instructions not to stop or harm immigrants, only to report them to the Border Patrol.

In a series of rallies meant to christen the event, speakers compared it to the Boston Tea Party and quoted Thomas Jefferson. Some participants gave their names to reporters as John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

A congressional candidate from California stumped for votes.

"We're done writing letters; we're done making phone calls and showing up at meetings. It doesn't work. What we're doing in the next 30 days is good old-fashioned activism," said Chris Simcox, one of the event's co-founders.