Resolution Rejects Minutemen Group

Laredo may be leading the way for other border cities who are looking to stop self-help groups from taking immigration laws into their own hands.

The Laredo City Council Monday night passed a resolution that says they do not approve of individuals or groups who visit the city and want to assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws.

The resolution also encourages landowners within Webb County or the city to refuse helping groups who ask for their assistance in patrolling the border.

The Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, a national organized group of people aiming to stop illegal immigration, is planning to visit the city in October and also in April.

The council did not comment on the resolution Monday.

Roger Roach, State Director for Texas LULAC, said LULAC districts across the state have been waiting to see what Laredo does as far as passing laws or resolutions to deter groups such as the Minutemen.

“With the leadership shown by our city council in passing this resolution, LULAC is taking this to other cities across the state so they can adopt something equal to the City of Laredo,” Rocha said. “Other cities are very concerned with the Minutemen and the negativity that they bring to respective cities.”

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Shannon McGauley, co-founder of the Texas Minutemen Corp., which has branched off of the Minutemen Project, said people are misinterpreting what the group’s intentions are.

“We don’t have anything to do with hate groups and we work hard to promote non-racist philosophies,” McGauley said. “We are not going to be stopping people on the streets asking them if they are illegal or not. That’s not what we are about. We’re going to catch the real threat, human smuggling and whatever looks suspicious.”

McGauley said he has been following the border violence in Nuevo Laredo and has recently become concerned for some of the volunteers that participate in his group.

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