Minuteman group treated unfairly in media

Forget all of the economic, racial, compassionate and moral arguments surrounding the immigration issue in Arizona. Instead we should focus on how immigration affects our national security - how it contributes to rising crime rates, human deaths and general sense of disorder along the border.

The Minuteman group is often criticized, and many of these criticisms appear to not have merit. The group tends to attract negative attention toward Mexican nationals who break U.S. law to enter, then continue to break the law stating a lack of common sense. For one thing, a regular flow of news about deaths and violent crime along the border supports the idea that illegal immigration leads to worsening crime rates. It has gotten so dangerous along the border that Arizona and New Mexico have declared their border regions to be in a state of emergency. The Minuteman group's message reinforces that the security situation on the border is dire.

Faced with accusations of racism among their volunteers, Chris Simcox and the Minutemen consistently assert that they condemn and avoid racism, white supremacy and violence at all costs. They tell all of their volunteers to keep their personal racist feelings to themselves. Their Web site is plastered with this warning to potential racist and violent volunteers: "If one single individual steps over the line for their personal gratification, we are all stained with that irresponsible behavior, and labeled forever as a fringe element that embarrasses all who are counting on us to make this historic statement." In this way, they present themselves as a constitutionally protected group of peaceful assemblers, simply helping the government while making a statement about the situation on the border.

Another small detail - and this is where liberals can really learn something - is the amazing ability of Simcox to appear calm when faced with a raging liberal at an interview and in a debate. Rather than get sucked in, overheated and lose his temper, Simcox tends to sit back and relax, and laugh at any liberal who loses their temper with him. He is always taking the higher ground and making liberals (who claim that Simcox is a nutcase) look like nutcases themselves.