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Texas GOP'er Joins Minutemen Volunteers
A leading Republican Party committeeman has joined the Minuteman border patrol, bringing new credibility to a group of volunteers labeled as "vigilantes” by President Bush. Dr. Michael Vickers, the veterinarian who first identified the strain of anthrax later implicated in the killing of five people in 2001, said he joined the Minutemen because federal and state officials have failed to seriously address illegal immigration, the Washington Times reports. "Over the past five years, the illegal-alien traffic has been horrendous,” said Vickers, who owns a ranch in south Texas. "More than a thousand aliens pass through here every night. Our fences are being cut. Our homes and barns are being vandalized. Our families are frightened."
Story Continues Below Dr. Vickers - who is a longtime supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry - said he was "very disappointed" by President Bush's characterization of the Minutemen as vigilantes. "I have supported every Republican from dogcatcher to president, and I am disappointed that the party can't see or doesn't understand the magnitude of this problem," he told the Times. "The response by Congress and the White House has been anemic.” Vickers' property is located in an area where more than 350,000 illegal aliens cross each year en route from Mexico to cities in the U.S. He has won access for the Minutemen to more than 100,000 acres of private land along the border, and extracted promises from fellow ranchers that could expand that area by another 800,000 acres.
"It costs me $180 a day - every day - to pay a crew to repair the fences around my property," Vickers said, adding that he and others pick up 200 articles of clothing and as many as 50 empty water jugs every day. As NewsMax recently reported, each illegal alien leaves behind from 8 to 10 pounds of waste during the journey from Mexico into the U.S. Vickers warned: "The threat of terrorism is real and with the hordes of people coming across this border every day, there's no guarantee that many of them are not terrorists looking to bring harm to the United States.” Dr. Vickers has found documents, letters and money on his ranch from a number of countries, including Sudan and China. Al Garza, Texas president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said that Vickers "believes in America. He believes in the rule of law. He believes in what we are doing, and his help has been invaluable."
Editor's note:
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