Jun-04-2006
Bryant Disagrees With President's Description Of Minutemen As Vigilantes, Calls Volunteer Organization Patriots
Visits U.S-Mexican border, sees stark reality of illegal immigration crisis
Reiterates problem is not on the border, but in Washington
BRENTWOOD, TN - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bryant, who recently visited the U.S.-Mexican border and worked with the Minutemen to build a fence on the border, called the volunteer organization "patriots" and honest Americans who are protecting our country from illegal immigrants and hardened criminals, much like a neighborhood watch. Bryant told his stories about the Minutemen on radio shows across the state and respectfully disagreed with President Bush's description of the group as "vigilantes." Bryant will introduce the first part of his plan "Securing Tennessee's Future," on Monday in the Tri-Cities.
On Knoxville's Southern Roots Radio, Bryant said "we saw on the Mexico side - their road - people riding up and down the road throughout the day with water - a tank of water in the back of a truck - or on four-wheelers scouting for holes in the fence where they could surely break through people at night under the cover of darkness."
Speaking to WTN's Phil Valentine in Nashville, Bryant said that the Minutemen "are wonderful patriots, they're honest folks, not making any money out of this thing. They are there to help protect America and help protect the property rights," of people like Jack Ladd. Ladd owns a ranch in Arizona that has been used as a crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. Bryant helped construct a fence to protect Ladd's property from both the problems of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers, and from the problem of diseased Mexican cattle that migrate through the holes in the fence and infect Ladd's cattle.
On Clarksville's WJZM's "The Bone Show," Bryant said the illegal immigration occurring on the border "is organized and appears to be fully supported by the government over in Mexico." After meeting with Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and discussing the problems he faces, Bryant told host Hank Bonecutter that the problem with illegal immigration was not just economically based. "The Sheriff is a great guy and working hard, and of course the Border Patrol reminded me of just how many of these people coming across are really bad actors - bad guys with records of murder and rape - and he gave me the statistics from last year in terms of how many people they picked up that are just hardened criminals that are illegally coming into this country, not seeking jobs or opportunity, but to further their criminal career."
Reinforcing that the crux of the problem is not on the border, but in Washington, Bryant told WREC's Mike Fleming that, "If we would just enforce the existing laws out there; this problem would resolve itself. As the jobs dry up, as we hire people who are legally in this country, as we hire more Americans citizens to do the work that's out there; the illegal immigrants will by attrition have to go back home."
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