Minutemen monitor border, watch for people entering country illegally

Published: 2007-05-09

THREE POINTS, Ariz. (CNS) -- Ray Ross sat in the bed of his pickup truck, waiting for "aliens," but not of the outer-space variety. He and his patrol partner, Terry Hartley, were watching for illegal immigrants crossing the Sonoran Desert. Ross and Hartley are members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. Before becoming a Minuteman, Ross used to feed migrants with his Catholic parish in Palm Springs, Calif. "I don't blame them for what they're doing. I'd probably do the same thing," he said of people who cross the border illegally. "But this is getting out of hand." Ross, now a parishioner at Sacred Heart in Prescott, said drug and human smuggling, prostitution and migrant deaths are among the tragedies resulting from illegal immigration. He joined forces with 150 of his fellow Minutemen from around the country for an "April muster," a monthlong surge of civilian patrols along the U.S.-Mexican border. Jose Robles, director of Hispanic ministry for the Phoenix Diocese, said the church does not have a position on the Minutemen's activities. "From the perspective of human dignity, if they're saving lives, we're grateful for that," he told The Catholic Sun, Phoenix diocesan newspaper.

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