Minuteman Project Organization

As the second act to its civilian border patrol in Arizona, the organization known as the Minutemen has pledged to launch a massive patrol of the entire U.S.-Mexico border this fall. To protest what they call inadequate security along the border, Minuteman leaders are holding community meetings throughout the South and Southwest to marshal thousands of volunteers. Leaders hope to amass in October to try to block illegal immigration routes in four states.

Caltrans has abruptly suspended its popular Adopt-A-Highway program several months after an anti-illegal immigration group sued the state agency for discrimination after it was forced to move its stretch of highway farther from a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint along Interstate 5 in San Diego County.

An Orange County judge on Tuesday said he would rule next month on whether to allow anti-illegal immigration activist Jim Gilchrist to retain control of his Minuteman Project border patrol organization. Gilchrist, co-founder of the group, had sought an immediate restraining order Monday against the three members of the group's seven-member board who took a 3-0 vote to oust him as president. Superior Court Judge Randell L.

Caltrans has given the San Diego Minutemen a new stretch of road to clean up for the Adopt-A-Highway program, moving the group that fights illegal immigration from Interstate 5 near the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint to a quieter, less visible state highway. Caltrans officials say the change was made because of safety concerns.

The Minuteman Project is giving up on plans to participate in a March 4 Patriots Day parade in Laguna Beach, and now has its eye on a San Juan Capistrano event. The anti-illegal immigration group sued for a spot in the parade, but on Feb. 7 an Orange County Superior Court judge declined to order Laguna Beach organizers to include it. Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist responded by saying that as many as 1,500 of the group's supporters would attend as spectators.

If the government doesn't build a security fence along the Mexico border, Minuteman Project border watch leader Chris Simcox says he and his supporters will. Simcox, whose civilian watch group opposes illegal immigration, said Wednesday that he was sending an ultimatum to President Bush to deploy military reservists to the Arizona border by May 25 or his supporters would break ground on their building project.

About 150 members of the Minuteman Project protested near a squatter community in a rural canyon Saturday, saying the Latino day laborers living in tents were illegal immigrants who should be deported. The protesters, carrying signs that said "hiring illegal immigrants is a crime," were met by about 20 counter-protesters. Police on horseback were on hand to keep all the demonstrators off the land occupied by the squatters, which is private.

When state Sen. John Campbell makes his final push in December to win a prized congressional district in coastal Orange County, the biggest fight may come not from his Democratic opponent but from a retired accountant who gained notoriety by watching for illegal immigrants at the Mexican border.

The Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration group, has been refused entry by a second Orange County parade. Last month, the border patrol group was barred by organizers of Laguna Beach's 40th annual Patriots Day parade, which takes place Saturday. On Thursday came a second rejection: Organizers of the March 25 Swallows Day Parade in San Juan Capistrano said they wouldn't let the group march either.

A volunteer border watch group has started erecting a mile of steel-mesh fence along the U.S.-Mexico border east of Naco. Minuteman Civil Defense Corps spokesman Al Garza said the fence will force illegal immigration traffic to the east and west. It also will "let the government know that it's not as difficult to secure the borders as they lead us to believe," he said.

HE senses them out there in the dark, making their moves, trying to outsmart him. He's planted on a hill in the cab of his mud-splattered, jacked-up truck, a greenish 1976 Silverado with roof-mounted motion sensors, holes in the floorboard and a "Don't Tread on Me" sticker in the window. From the cab, he studies the valley below with night-vision goggles, Ruger revolver strapped to his ribs.

A lawsuit filed against three people who sought to oust Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist from the anti-illegal immigrant organization has been dismissed. Gilchrist has founded a new group and is no longer affiliated with the original Minuteman Project. Gilchrist petitioned the court to drop the lawsuit because it could have led to a judge appointing an independent party to control the finances of the citizen border control group.

The city attorney's office Monday filed nine misdemeanor charges against a member of the Minuteman anti-illegal immigration movement who had a confrontation with day laborers. John Matthew Monti allegedly pushed and cursed day laborers who had gathered on a street corner of the Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood seeking work. The charges include battery, civil rights violations and filing a false police report for alleging that he had been assaulted by several laborers.

Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist and his opponents within the anti-illegal-immigration group both claimed victory Friday after an Orange County Superior Court judge put Gilchrist back in charge of the organization's funds but indicated that those assets might soon be put into receivership. Judge Randell L.

An Orange County Superior Court judge heard arguments Wednesday about who should control the Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration group, and attorneys said they expect a ruling within a week. Jim Gilchrist, who co-founded the group, is seeking a temporary restraining order after three board members attempted to oust him in January amid allegations of financial mismanagement. They took over the Minuteman's website and bank accounts. At one point in the proceedings, Judge Randell L.

Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist was confronted by three associates who had been his closest allies when he arrived at his group's headquarters in Lake Forest in late January. "Jim," said Marvin Stewart, "the board has terminated you as president." Gilchrist recalled that it felt like his heart sank to his stomach, prompting him to instinctively yell, "You're all fired." "No, Jim, you are fired," Stewart said.

If American Independent Party congressional candidate and anti-illegal immigration activist Jim Gilchrist can't be listed as director of the Minuteman project on next month's special election ballot, the space next to his name will be left blank, his campaign manager said Friday.

Jim Gilchrist, the Aliso Viejo accountant who co-founded the Minuteman Project, was forced offstage seconds into his speech at Columbia University on Wednesday night by students who said his anti-illegal immigration message was not welcome in New York. Gilchrist, who was invited by the Columbia University College Republicans, was unharmed but was unable to continue speaking as planned and was forced to leave the stage after an altercation with students.

An Orange County judge on Tuesday said he would rule next month on whether to allow anti-illegal immigration activist Jim Gilchrist to retain control of his Minuteman Project border patrol organization. Gilchrist, co-founder of the group, had sought an immediate restraining order Monday against the three members of the group's seven-member board who took a 3-0 vote to oust him as president. Superior Court Judge Randell L.

A behind-the-scenes power struggle over control of the Minuteman Project spilled into an Orange County courtroom Monday with ousted co-founder Jim Gilchrist asking a judge to give him back control of the citizen border patrol group. Superior Court Judge Randell L. Wilkinson said he would issue a ruling within a few days.