This Woman Questions Your Legitimacy

The anti-illegal immigration group, the San Diego Minutemen, have asked a federal judge that the state (Cal Trans) return to the Minutemen the stretch of Highway along Interstate 5 by the border checkpoint that was their originally-granted location for the Adopt-a-Highway program. Story here.

(by the way... we've travelled this corridor regularly for nearly 18 years and it has been a good 6-8 years since we've seen any "checking" going on at this checkpoint. Thanks Presidente' Jorge!)

The state took away this location and reassigned them a stretch of Route 52 out by Santee citing safety concerns. The irony of moving the Minutemen from a border checkpoint out to Santee which has an unfortunate reputation (deservedly or not) of racial unseemliness has not been lost on some people.

This is a point actually worth debating as a group like the Minutemen which inspires such hatred among their enemies could become a target of harassment and confrontation. Combine that with 80+ mph traffic and you are asking for trouble.

However, this provides an opening for an expansion of an agenda that reaches far beyond the narrow focus of mere safety. You see, the Minutemen may not be worthy of the border checkpoint location… hell, they may not be worthy of any location in the Adopt-a-Highway program. State Assemblywoman Lori Saldana is considering legislation that would force CalTrans to stop accepting applications until they “develop standards governing who is qualified to participate.”

"We want them to say what constitutes a legitimate group," Saldana said after the hearing. "Do we want these people allowed on a highway near a security checkpoint?" (emphasis added)

We’re curious if people like Saldana have any idea of the ramifications of what is explicit and what is implicit in statements like that.

The Stonewall Citizens Patrol out of Hillcrest (a predominantly gay neighborhood in San Diego) operates in much the same manner as the Minutemen. They are an unarmed neighborhood citizens patrol that works with the police to prevent crime and raise awareness as to “hate crimes” against the gay/lesbian community. They are a deservedly highly-praised and awarded group. They are in M.O. no different than the Minutemen but because the Minutemen simply advocate for an enforcement of the border and national sovereignty, their legitimacy is openly questioned.

Article linked to can’t resist getting all “fair and balanced” by inserting two lines which have absolutely nothing to do with the story but which raises a (false) premise towards Saldana’s implied slander:

“Police searched the home of San Diego Minutemen leader Jeff Schwilk in 2007 during an investigation into alleged vandalism at three migrant camps in San Diego's McGonigle Canyon. No members of the group were arrested.”

The judge did not set a timetable for his decision.