May 13, 2008 — Some Americans are staunchly dedicated to keeping illegal aliens and potential terrorists out of the United States. Two of those people, Chris Simcox, president of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and Dan Logue, a Republican candidate for the California Third Assembly District seat, brought the Secure Our Borders Tour to Susanville at noon on Thursday, May 8 in order to raise public awareness about the issue. About 50 local residents attended the town hall meeting at the Commerce Building at the Lassen County Fairgrounds.

Most of those in attendance seemed to agree with Logue and Simcox that enough is enough.

As he introduced Simcox, Logue said the budget was an important issue, but stopping the tide of illegal immigration is “an issue crucial to the future of our nation.”

According to Logue, it’s time to “turn off the magnet benefits that draw them across the border.” He said there are an estimated 3 million illegal aliens in California and an estimated 20 million nationwide, including “1 million from terrorist countries, and nobody knows where they’re at.”

He said Simcox’s group is made up of “citizen soldiers” who protect the nation and support the rule of law.

Simcox asked those in attendance to join with him and support his organization’s mission to secure United States borders and coastal boundaries against unlawful and unauthorized entry of all individuals, contraband, and foreign military.

The minutemen don’t intervene directly. They simply act as eyes and ears for the border patrol agents who frequently follow up when the group reports suspicious activity.

A former school teacher in Los Angeles, Logue said recently released statistics show Los Angeles alone will pay as much as $1 billion in medical and educational bills for illegal aliens. He said forecasters predict the illegal alien problem could even bankrupt Los Angeles and its taxpayers.

According to Simcox, the numbers are staggering. He said since 2002 the Border Patrol has apprehended about 20,000 illegal aliens from 26 different countries, and he said the Border Patrol estimates about 1.3 million people enter this country illegally every year.

While the federal government is either “incapable or unwilling” to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, Simcox said, “The world is watching.”

He accused the federal government of “pandering” with the national security interests of the country.

Although he dismissed the federal government’s lack of desire to stop illegal immigration, as well as that of all three frontrunners in the presidential race, he said state citizens can make a difference.

He said Californians could take a play from the Arizona playbook and pass ballot initiatives. According to Simcox, many laws already have been passed in other states and deemed constitutional by the court of appeals.

Simcox also said we should require proof of citizenship before people are allowed to vote, and our driver’s license should be our national identity card.

Time to get tough on illegal aliens
Simcox said his plan to deal with illegal aliens isn’t racist. He said it isn’t a partisan issue either — it’s neither Republican nor Democratic. Instead, it’s based on national security needs, public safety and fairness. He said it might take 20 years to clean up the mess.

“Get off your chair,” Simcox said. “Get off your duff. Get out there and do something.”

It’s time to take back the country, Simcox said. We need to deny bail to non-citizens, he said. We need to deny instate tuition to illegal aliens. We need to cut off funding to so-called “sanctuary cities” that don’t follow or enforce federal law.

In Arizona, he said employers get once chance. If they hire an illegal worker, they’re fined $10,000 and closed down for 10 days. He said if a business is busted with illegal workers a second time, it’s time to “pack up and leave” because you don’t have a business license anymore.

It’s working in Arizona, and Simcox said the new atmosphere has attracted new business and in the past five months the unemployment rate has dropped by 1 percent.

“We need to slam the door,” Simcox said, “and those who knock, we’ll invite in.”

Simcox said the new fence being built by the federal government is designed to fail.

In San Diego, for example, a new three-layer fence with areas for vehicles between them and electronic monitoring equipment has cut the number of illegal aliens crossing the border from 10,000 a day to none. But much of the barrier being built in other places along the boarder is a single fence with no electronic equipment. And Simcox said it won’t work.

He also said we need to change the “second magnet” for illegal aliens — United States citizenship for the children of illegal aliens born in the U.S.

Simcox also said he’s personally recovered the bodies of 36 illegal aliens, including women and children, who died in the desert trying to sneak into America.

According to Simcox, there also is a new breed of terrorist in this country with groups such as MEChA who claim America stole the Southwest from them. He said they are some of the biggest America haters on college campuses in the country.

“You’ll know when the border’s secure,” Simcox said, “when we’re leaving the border because we’re no longer needed.”