NCJ Number
210561
Journal
Homeland Defense Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 20-23
Date Published
June 2005
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Minuteman Project, a group of volunteers with intentions to bring attention to the United States Federal Government’s inability to protect American citizens from the dangers of permeable borders and the controversy surrounding the project’s effectiveness in drawing media attention.
Abstract
Posted along 23 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border for 30 days in April, 900 volunteers watched for illegal border crossings. These volunteers formed the Minuteman Project. The Minuteman Project’s 23 mile surveillance area crossed along less protected stretches of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. The goal of the Project volunteers was to obtain publicity by nonviolent means and to prove that the border could be effectively closed with proper manpower. This paper discusses the controversy surrounding the project’s efforts to draw media attention, as well as favorable and unfavorable comments on the project’s initiative ranging from the President of the United States to the Southern Poverty Law Center.