ACLU, Minutemen trade accusations of misbehavior
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Grey Deacon, a spokesman of the Minuteman Project, told the “Worldnet RadioActive” show in an exclusive interview on April 14 that representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union are now criminally involved in helping illegal entrants cross the US border and avoid detection. He alleges that the ACLU activists are making noise and flashing lights to alert potential illegals to move on to a non-patrolled area of the border.
“The ACLU’s position is that illegal aliens have a right to enter our border and stay in this country as long as they want,” said Deacon. “That’s what one of the leaders of the group told me personally.”
These allegations exist despite the ACLU’s officially stated position of not directly interfering with the Minutemen’s activities. The ACLU’s press release of March 30 affirmed that the participation of ACLU members would be strictly limited to being “neutral observers” and “recorders”, not “participants”, according to ACLU of Arizona Board President Stan Furman, a former Arizona State Senator.
“We recognize the right of a country to defend its borders,” said Eleanor Eisenberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona, “but it must be done by the proper authorities and in a humane way,” suggesting that the primary concern on the ACLU in interacting with the Minuteman Project was to prevent violence.
The ACLU also quotes prior allegations against the group that sponsors the Minutemen, writing that they are “alleged to have engaged in activities that go beyond First Amendment-protected activity and that is intended to intimidate, harass or otherwise interfere with the rights of others.”