James Durney

Position Paper

Volunteer Border Patrol Groups

Chris Simcox justifies volunteer border patrol groups in the concept of security.
He argues that the government is falling short of effectively defending our borders.
The department of Homeland security cannot effectively stop migrant
workers, mothers carrying small children, vicious drug smugglers, known
criminals and human smugglers from breaching our border security
(Simcox, 74).
Simcox asserts that people aren't willing to wait for the federal government to fix this
problem. He points to the fact that the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps have been
contacted by "over 15,000 people wishing to volunteer for future operations" (Simcox,
76). There is only one way to relieve the concern of the American people, according to
Simcox, and that is the"deployment of U.S. military reserves and/or assinging National
Guard personnel, to augment a woefully understaffed Border patrol" (77).
Chris Simcox defends the Minuteman Project. He lauds the group's effectiveness,
reporting that their "effort has led to the capture, by the proper authorities, of 4609
individuals from 26 different countries" (Simcox, 74). Not only is the program effective,
it is also appreciated. "Agents thanked the volunteers for bringing national attention to
their plight and their frustration" (Simcox, 75). Contrary to Simcox's belief that current
Border Patrol agents appreciate the help, volunteers are "unfamiliar with the provisions
the Border Patrol already has in place" (Siddique, 79). As one agent of the Border Patrol
says, "it has taken away from our normal operations" (Siddique, 79).
The "Dangerous Vigilantes" article portrays the Minuteman Project quite
differently than Simcox. Bigotry is the underlying idea of Siddique's arguments. The
Minuteman Project is argued to possess many members who are Neo-Nazi (Siddique,
78). This argument isn't hard to believe when "James Gilchrist, it's founder, recently
defended white supremacists on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes" (Siddique, 78). The
bigotry and racism promoted by the Minuteman Project are "efforts to make America a
land of exclusion, not freedom" (Siddique, 80). I can't help but agree with Siddique, after
all my ancestors were immigrants at one point. I wonder how American Indians feel
about the border issue.

Works Cited:
Siddique, Asheesh. "VolunteerBoarder Patrol Groups: Dangerous Vigilantes." You
Decide! Current Debates in American Politics. Ed. John T. Rourke. New York:
Pearson-Longman, 2007.
Simcox, Chris. "Volunteer Boarder Patrol Groups: Laudable Patriots." You Decide!
Current Debates in American Politics. Ed. John T. Rourke. New York: Pearson-
Longman, 2007.