Minutemen influence claimed

[Judi Lynn]

Aug. 27, 2005, 9:42PM

Minutemen influence claimed
Organizers close a meeting to the media because the day laborers are said to be fearful
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The Minutemen aren't scheduled to patrol the streets of Houston for another month, but already they're having an effect among day laborers.A day labor organizational meeting scheduled for Saturday had to be closed to the media because the workers are afraid, organizers said.

The leaders also say they have noticed that fewer contractors are picking up workers from the corners where day laborers, most of them undocumented immigrants, gather, which they also attribute to fear of the Minutemen.

"They're very scared," Maria Jimenez, a leader of the Coalition Against Intolerance and for Respect, said of the workers.

The coalition organized the meeting Saturday so that day laborers would have the chance to meet with Francisco Pacheco from the National Day Labor Organizing Network, a group based in Los Angeles.
(snip)

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an Arizona group calling for reduced illegal immigration, has announced that it will begin Operation Spotlight in Houston this October. Minuteman volunteers will observe day laborers and write down the license plate numbers of the contractors who pick them up.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3328057
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[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Ah fear....

the first tenant of fascism.