Border patrol at an end

Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico, says he's relieved that a monthlong civilian border patrol will soon be over.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has been monitoring the border this month to watch for illegal immigrants; and the ACLU has been monitoring the Minutemen to watch for human rights violations.

"Some of the encounters down on the border, they have been a little threatening, a little intimidating," Simonson said. "Frankly, I'm glad it's about to end."

The ACLU reported a Minuteman volunteer from Colorado was detained by the Border Patrol a week ago after the man allegedly detained two migrants near the New Mexico border with Mexico last week.

Calls to Border Patrol offices were not returned.

The Minuteman group confirmed that a volunteer did take two migrants who had requested food and water into his car. The volunteer was sent home for violating no-contact rules, said Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair.

Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair said Minutemen aren't supposed to have any form of contact or communication with suspected illegal immigrants. They're supposed to simply report them to Border Patrol.

Minuteman can provide humanitarian aid if needed, but allowing the migrants into a car violated the rules, Hair said.

Hair countered the ACLU claims with allegations that Ray Ybarra, who is leading the ACLU's New Mexico monitoring efforts, "crashed a car through a property owner's gate," and another ACLU monitor ran an elderly Minuteman off the road, then followed him for 20 miles.

Simonson said the actions are "juvenile" and called the Minutemen's charges exaggerated. The ACLU has been simply following Minutemen to monitor their activities, he said.

An ACLU volunteer stopped following the Minutemen when they entered private property and was accused of hitting a fence post while turning around, Simonson said.

He added that the ACLU volunteer following a group of Minutemen had been accused of shining a spotlight in their faces, but had no spotlight. He said no one had been run off a road. At least one ACLU volunteer had reported being surrounded by Minutemen.

The matters are being looked into, but so far no charges have been filed, said Daniel Viramontes, chief deputy district attorney for the 6th judicial district in New Mexico.

Meanwhile, Alex Segura, one of a handful of Utahns who recently returned from the border, watching a section of Arizona-Mexico border for the Minutemen reported a quiet patrol. He hadn't seen a single ACLU volunteer.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com