Minutemen's message on immigration: on a roll?

The group of volunteers has helped push illegal immigration to the forefront in America, some experts say.

"I think that the Minuteman Project is at least indirectly responsible for what we are now seeing in the streets of America with millions of immigrants protesting," says Luis Cabrera, assistant professor of political science at Arizona State University. "The message really got out that the borders are broken and that the president and Congress aren't doing what it takes," he says. "That contributed in turn to [the passage of] the House bill that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally."

In April 2005, Gilchrist organized about 1,500 volunteers along the Arizona border. Last year, Gilchrist ran for Congress in California's 48th District and placed third, earning about 25 percent of the vote. Since his group's founding, similar projects in California, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Oregon have continued to put pressure on Congress to tighten US borders.

Mr. Bush has labeled the Minutemen a vigilante group, and several border watchdog groups say it has increased fear, tension and misunderstanding at the border. "Adding vigilantes to the high tension that now exists at the border with smugglers and you create a potentially dangerous mix," says Erica Dahl-Bredine, who works on the Mexican side of the border for Catholic Relief Services in Tucson, Ariz.

Immigration experts say the number of Minutemen and supporters remains unknown. Mr. Eichler claims 200,000 have signed an online pledge. Some members say only about 8,000 have participated in border vigils or rallies, and that only a few hundred may be active at any one time.

"They've done a lot more with the smoke and mirrors than actually turning out people," says Louis DeSipio, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine.

That doesn't bother Susan Herweck, a Chicago banker who met the Minutemen on the state capitol steps in Phoenix.

"I am thinking of starting up something like this back in Chicago," says Herweck, visiting her father in Phoenix. Her daughter is married to a Hispanic legal resident. "This has gotten much worse in the past decade," she says, citing graffiti, gangs, and crime. "If they want to come over legally, we will welcome them with open arms," Herweck says, repeating an often heard comment by Minutemen participants.

Though some see poll numbers that support the Minutemen as a direct, negative reaction to the immigrant rallies across the US, many observers see a debate that will help reform US immigration policy.

"I don't think there is anything we can do to stop either side of this debate," says Ernesto Nieto, director of the National Hispanic Institute. "Transient, quick solutions won't stop the waves of protests we are seeing. The nation is being redefined."

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