James Gilchrist, Minuteman Project on Defending the U.S. Border

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," Jan. 26, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

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SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Regular American citizens in California and Arizona have taken the security of our country into their own hands. They are patrolling the border with Mexico to catch illegal immigrants.

Joining us now from the group called the Minuteman Project is James Gilchrist, who is with us now.

James, how are you? Welcome to the show.

JAMES GILCHRIST, ORGANIZER OF MINUTEMAN PROJECT: Hi, how are you, Sean?

HANNITY: You are seeking volunteers for a full month, 30 days, to volunteer to go to the border, Arizona border, and patrol the borders, correct?

GILCHRIST: That is correct.

HANNITY: What is the plan?

GILCHRIST: We're going down there to peacefully assemble, to display our displeasure with the federal government -- and specifically with Congress and the White House -- for not enforcing U.S. immigration laws.

We are not going down there to take the law into our own hands. I want to be very clear about that, because there has been some serious misinterpretation. We're going down there strictly to observe the movement -- the infiltration of illegal immigrants into the United States and report that to the Border Patrol. hat's all. No confrontation.

HANNITY: Well, this is important. And I had a discussion with you earlier, so I'm confident that I think you're at least planning to do this the right way.

I think it's important, because both parties have failed to enforce these laws. And it is the number-one area of susceptibility we have as a country. So, in that sense, I hope you call a lot of attention to it.

But I want you to spell this out clearly. You are not going there to arrest, to confront, to fight with, to have arguments with. You are only going to go there, to observe, and then call the authorities when you see people breaking the law, correct?

GILCHRIST: That's absolutely correct, Sean. We are going to do it with an air force, a paraglider force. We're going to do it with outposts, approximately 40 day and night outposts, 24/7, with night vision equipment and telescopes for the day, and a very sophisticated communications network.

COLMES: James, this is Alan. This all sounds very peaceful. Why then, on your Web site, though, do you say -- you refer to your group as a "blocking force" -- those are your words -- against entry into the U.S. by illegal aliens? A "blocking force." How are you going to block them?

GILCHRIST: We're going to block them by our sheer presence. They will know that we're going to be able to spot them from any position they come in to San Pedro.

COLMES: Are these people going to be armed?

GILCHRIST: No, no.

COLMES: They're not going to be armed?

GILCHRIST: I'm not going to be armed. However, they can arm themselves at the option under the laws of the state of Arizona.

COLMES: You know, the authorities are saying that this is very dangerous. You ought to watch this, that even the Border Patrol people are in great physical danger. The U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael Nicely says you're absolutely not equipped to deal with this border environment. Are you going to listen to what the authorities are saying?

GILCHRIST: In that case, no. And I'll give you the reason. Civil homeland defense down there, run by Chris Simcox, has been doing this for about four years and have not had one incident of an altercation or injury.

COLMES: Well, you've got the Barnett brothers who rounded up over 3,000 undocumented immigrants on their property in Douglas, Arizona, publicly bragged about the people they've caught, sometimes at gunpoint. And what Roger Barnett said, "I'm prepared to take a life if I have to." Are these the people you're consorting with to this?

GILCHRIST: Not at all, Alan. Thank you for that question. I appreciate it.

Not at all. And that is exactly what we're staying away from. I had a meeting with Sheriff Deaver down there in Cochise County. He has my word that we're operating strictly according to the law. And he warned us, he's there not to take sides. He is there to enforce the law...

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: But you know the Yuma County board of supervisors in the Summerton City Council passed a resolution condemning citizen border watch groups like yours. So you don't really want to regard what the authorities and what the experts are actually saying about this?

GILCHRIST: No, because we've gone for 40 years disregarding what our political leaders have set forth for us. And what they have set forth for us is a no-door policy. Anyone who wants to come into the United States, just come on through, and have your way with our households. We treat our country like we treat our households. We want invited guests. We want nice guests. We don't want...

COLMES: If all you're going to have is people calling in or airplanes above, and you're not actually physically doing anything, what effect are you going to have if nobody listens to you?

GILCHRIST: We will be recording. We'll chronicle all these reports that are going to Border Patrol from our outposts and our foot patrols and our air wing. We will record whether the Border Patrol is reacting or not, whether there has been an interception or not. That will be given to the media on demand.

By the way, this is wide open. This is open season to the media and to law enforcement. There's nothing to hide in this organization. We're not a military operation. We are a bunch of former '60s liberals turned quasi-conservative in the '90s.

HANNITY: All right, James. I hope you call a lot of attention to it, because if we don't secure the borders of this country, we will always be potential victims of terror. And both parties aren't getting it now. And I hope they hear your message loud and clear. Thanks for being with us.

GILCHRIST: Thank you both very much.

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