"I'm a Hispanic. This isn't about race," Segura said. "This is about law enforcement (officers) not doing their jobs. It's about businesses pandering to politicians."

He says he judges people on their character, not their skin color.

Segura and other Minutemen say racism cuts both ways. They point to extremes on the Hispanic side, such as the La Voz de Aztlan (The Voice of Aztlan) Web site. It professes some of the same anti-Semitic beliefs held by white supremacists, they say.

During Minuteman meetings, Segura steers the discussion away from "Mexicans." When a Minuteman protester told a reporter something about "all these Mexicans taking jobs," Segura said, "I told him I didn't want him to come to any more Minuteman meetings or demonstrations."

"This isn't about a particular race. We know people from all over the world are illegally in America," Segura said. "The only thing we advocate is the rule of law."

Segura has criticized Barry Hatch, who founded the anti-illegal immigration group Save America last year, as "minimized by some of his racist comments."

Tony Yapias thinks his own treatment at Save America and Minuteman functions is proof that the anti-immigration debate targets all Hispanics. After a Save America meeting last year, a woman assumed he was illegal and Mexican. Her demeanor changed when Yapias said he was from Peru.

Archuleta said he sees a dangerous edge to the anti-immigration debate, but he believes that most concerned about illegal immigration aren't racists.

"I think the majority of people really feel, particularly since 9/11, that our borders are too porous," he said.

Still, Archuleta sees too many people characterizing illegal immigrants as "nasty, drug-selling criminals." That, he said, is part of the dehumanization process. He adds to that popular phrases like, "What don't you understand about illegal?"

Archuleta does, however, understand that illegal immigration is a passionate issue.

"Whichever side you're on, it produces passionate feelings and rhetoric," Archuleta said. "I'm as guilty as the next one."

Drawing support

Anti-illegal immigration activists have long claimed their complaints about porous borders have fallen on policymakers' deaf ears.

A few years ago, Utah lawmakers passed an English-only law. More recently, they passed provisions such as in-state tuition and drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants. Those two laws were targets of UFIRE, which unsuccessfully lobbied for their repeal in 2004.