Reality on the Border

There are reporter wars along the Mexican border.

Morgan Loew and Steven Gregory, two journalists, offer differing perspectives of the Minuteman Project.

On the one hand, the project is depicted as no more than a dangerous band of racist vigilantes roaming the border, hunting aliens. Tucson, Arizona CBS affiliate KOLD News 13, lives up to the high journalistic standards of the CBS network news department with Morgan Loew's report. He could be considered the Dan Rather of Tucson.

Loew's story, "Undercover With The Minuteman Project," is part of an effort by liberal media to derail the work the group is doing. They apparently can't handle the project's success.

Loew reports:

To get the real story, we went undercover, camping and patrolling with the Minuteman volunteers. We blended in because we had signed up as volunteers ourselves...

One man says, "Don't be talking to the press. They'll misconstrue things.. not all of them, but we don't know which ones will and which ones won't."

...But the stories we get from our fellow volunteers when they don't know they're on camera give an uncensored version.

Marc says, "You walk into a McDonald's and you wake up and realize the entire third world is here."

This Tucson resident tells us he doesn't like what Mexicans do to his neighborhood. Marc says, "It's not like these are poor immigrants are coming here for minimum wage jobs. A lot of these people have thousands of dollars in their pockets."

This couple from Georgia tells us they believe their small town is being invaded. The Georgia man says, "Until the Mexicans started moving in in '94..'95.. Dalton was about 35,000."

There are eight volunteers in our group, from as far away as Boston and Washington , DC . Our mission is to patrol this stretch of roadway, keeping an eye on two washes and a field. It doesn't take long to find what the Minutemen are looking for.

One volunteer says, "They're sleeping under the bridge. I just called the Border Patrol - they're sending a guy out."

The Georgia couple has spotted a group of suspected illegal immigrants. One man says, "The lady here.. she took off like a herd of elephants." Unfamiliar with the terrain and the situation, the lady from Georgia tripped and fell, splitting her chin.

Marc says, "One of them just ran up the wash and there's possibly four more."

Across the highway, more Minutemen show up with video cameras, eager to catch a real apprehension on tape.

After 10 minutes, Border Patrol agents arrive and take five illegal immigrants into custody. The Minutemen here follow their instructions - keeping their distance - and observing, as the agents do their jobs. It's a relief for my producer and myself, given the fact - everyone in our group - except us - is armed with handguns.

Loew is supposedly reporting about all the problems, the ugly underbelly of the Minuteman Project.

And that would be...WHAT?

That the group is wary about talking to the media.

That some guy made a comment about the McDonald's looking like a third world country.

That when illegal aliens were spotted, the volunteers called the Border Patrol and dropped back so the five attempting to enter the country illegally could be arrested.

Wow--What a shocking expose! Loew is really reaching for something negative.

Now on the other hand, we have the account of FOX News Radio KFYI's Steven Gregory. He was an embedded reporter with the Minuteman Project and offers his view. He has seen no evidence of the racist, wild-eyed vigilantes Loew describes.

Gregory writes in his notes from the border:

By now, it's time for another live interview...this time, KFBK in Sacramento, CA.....and WRVA in West Virginia......It's funny that most everyone starts each interview with phrases like, "So Steve...you're embedded with a group of vigilantes along the border?" Or, "Hello Steve, tell us what it's like being with the Minutemen Militia" It's no wonder people never trust the media....I assure you, there's no evidence (at least from what I can tell) that there's a militia here...sure, there's a few people with guns..but, they're mostly retired law enforcement, military and in some cases....active law enforcement / military.
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Two very different accounts--one tells of a group of extremists while the other praises the volunteers as concerned citizens.

One fact that can't be disputed: The Minuteman Project has been successful in bringing attention to our alarmingly porous borders.