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Immigration/Border Program

Responding to the Minuteman Project

See More Photos > During the month of April, 2005, AFSC and the Arizona chapter of the ACLU co-sponsored a legal observing project to document the activities of the so-called Minuteman Project. The Minuteman Project is a vigilante effort in which volunteers "patrol" the border/mountain areas of southern Cochise County, observing and sometimes apprehending undocumented migrants who are trying to enter the US. There is widespread concern that unlawful activities are likely to occur; Minuteman volunteers may be intercepting migrant groups (possibly including minors) in isolated areas, potentially with firearms, while giving them the 'suggestion' of waiting for border patrol authorities. A major fear of human rights groups is that the Minutemen are violating the false imprisonment law (A.R.S. 13-1303), which states that it is unlawful to detain a person against their will, either through physical force, intimidation, or deception.

Because of these suspected actions, volunteer legal observers have been recruited and organized during the entire month of April to monitor and document all interactions between vigilantes and immigrants. Legal observers do not interfere with what is occurring, but simply ensure that the human and civil rights of all people are being respected during the Minuteman Project. Legal observers have been crucial in deterring potential abuses and have helped highlight the problems associated with immigrants' rights on the border.

Ray Ybarra, the ACLU Ira Glassier Racial Justice Fellow based in Douglas, Arizona, originated the project. Our office has assisted in a range of activities related to monitoring participants of the Minuteman project in the Douglas/Sierra Vista area for the month of April. We have worked to recruit volunteers, organize press conferences and releases, conduct legal observer and nonviolence trainings for interested volunteers, track the media's reaction to the Minuteman/ACLU activities, and provide general support to the project.

If you are interested in being a legal observer, please contact the Arizona office at (520)623-9141 or email: afscaz@afsc.org. If you would like to get involved with other local responses to the Minuteman Project, please contact Derechos Humanos at (520) 770-1373, coalicion@derechoshumanosaz.net or Border Action Network at (520) 623-4944, BAN@borderaction.org.

See photos from some of the activities >

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