Has it really come to this?

[Teresa]

My apologies in advance for the long post .

I could hardly believe what I was reading when I saw this the other day. (read the article below).  At what point in our history did we the American people lose our backbone?  When did we start putting the "rights" of non-citizens ahead of the rights of law-abiding, tax paying citizens?  Oh yeah, I guess all you have to do is look at the state of social security, medic-aide and various other social aid type programs and you have your answer.  When did we simply consciously or unconsciously decide to quit holding our elected and/or appointed officials accountable for doing the will of the people? I guess I am just naive enough to believe that this is not what the majority of Americans want.

So what are our elected leaders doing about it?  They are spending time debating the largest spending bill in history, loaded with pet projects and frivolous spending.  Some of this spending is going to literally prop up the very programs being drained by the flood of illegal immigrants from all countries into this country.  Why can't our leaders plug the holes in the dam before refilling it with water?  Let's find all of the leaks (or at least the big ones) in these programs, and fix those first.  It seems pretty simple to me.


16 illegals sue Arizona rancher

Jerry Seper (Contact)

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.

The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."

In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.

Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.

Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water.

Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.

He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed.

A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie.

His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.

"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back."

[Teresa]

One more thing, I sent this to some people and got an interesting reply from one of my friends...

It would make more "cents" to denounce your US Citizenship, move to Mexico, and come back to the US as an illegal or "non-documented" alien. You would pay no social security tax, property tax, payroll tax, your kids can go to the same school (no proof of citizenship needed), get free health care @ the ER (faster too), live in the same place (no proof of citizenship needed unless in Farmers Branch), skip registration for the draft, no jury duty, and you don't get telemarketing calls since your off the grid! Really the only thing you miss out on is voting........for now.

But actually..even that is allowed as  they have tried to back door letting them vote many times.

There is this 'funny' federal law that states a drivers license is enough to register to vote and they can't check the SS#... Just so you know what criminals are doing when they try to get them to get DLs...

But you know what?
Maybe this trail is good.  Hopefully Mr Barnett will be acquitted or not held liable which may set a precedent and allow him  and others to protect his property.  Also wonder if there is more to this story than what is being told.  Supposedly he kicked a woman, is it legal for him to do that without just cause like protecting himself from violence?  Bet you that the reporters are leaving a lot of important facts out of the story.

If it were me and a couple of other people on his property, we would be charged with trespassing, arrested, subject to a fine and/or jail time.
If I claimed my civil rights were violated, I would be laughed at on my way to get booked.

Glad to see LEO and border patrol agents recognize "avenue of choice" on private property. BUT do nothing.

Does the porkulus bill cover the completion of the border wall? I doubt it...

[S-S]

Teresa,

I just saw on the news this morning that the court ordered the rancher to pay the "immigrants" $73,000. It made me sick to my stomach.

[Teresa]

I know....................... It made me so damned mad when I heard that , that I thought I was going to blow a gasket.
What in the living hell is going on with this country and the people. Has everyone literally lost ALL common sense and their minds??!!??!!
It is just getting worse and worse and worse..