PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Andy Ramirez, Chairman
Contact Tel: (909) 613-9211
Date of Release: Immediate
 
FBP delays Border Watch; new launch Sept 16, 2005
 
Border Watch to commence on Mexican Independence Day
 
The Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, Robert Bonner, has said that he welcomes the eyes and ears of "volunteer citizens" to help protect our borders, on the condition that "we can make it work consistently with some smart strategy." Of course we reject any Washington, DC spin that would claim that Border Patrol agents are expendable as we are not trained to any degree of the U.S. Border Patrol's agents. Our volunteers are going to the border continuing our mission of supporting the Border Patrol and their agents, and calling the attention of the American people to the real plight of our citizens living along the borders who are being overrun, while our government is allowing this to take place unchecked.
 
Friends of the Border Patrol has been working with Border Patrol agents, both active duty and retired, to develop such a strategy and we are now ready to put that strategy into action on the border between California and Mexico.  Called "Border Watch", this ultimate neighborhood watch program on the border is also a response to calls from the President of the United States for American citizens to take an active role in becoming the eyes and ears of law enforcement, helping to guard the nation against future terrorist attacks like 9-11. 
 
FBP originally planned on launching operations on August 1, 2005. However, due to the overwhelming response from citizens throughout California and the nation, we were forced to delay our launch for six additional weeks in order to better prepare in all aspects of our operation and to offer our volunteers an opportunity to participate at a time when the heat could be much lower. We want to avoid preparing for 1000 volunteers and having 3000 show up.
 
FBP also pushed back the date to ensure that we are able to provide volunteers with sufficient training, portable toilets, food and shelter. This will also give us additional time to coordinate our efforts with the various fire and law enforcement representatives that we are working with. This extra six weeks will give us additional time to prepare our headquarters staff and volunteers for the endeavor ahead.
 
The volunteers of "Border Watch", mindful of their civic responsiblity and the ongoing threat to national security caused by uncontested migration across an open border, will take up their stations on September 16, 2005, mere days after the fourth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history.  Their mission is do their part to prevent any such attack from ever happening again. 
 
It is imperative to send a message to Washington, DC that open borders and the havoc it creates is unacceptable to our citizens. One needs to just talk with San Diego and Imperial County residents to learn the horrors they face on a daily basis as they live in fear, and are undefended by our government. This is due to uncontrolled illegal immigration and the obstruction that our government extends by eliminating policies that previously allowed the Border Patrol and their agents to do their job. It is this same administration that has enacted new policies that have effectively gagged the Border Patrol's agents from speaking out against the policies that are weakening national security and destroying the agency itself.
 
The choice of September 16 or Mexican Independence Day is symbolic in that the American people will demonstrate how the time has come for America to stand with the people of Mexico and call for economic, social, and humanitarian reforms. The oligarchy and monopoly must come to an end. Mexico's elite that has controlled their nation with an iron fist must now reform their nation and share their wealth, and provide hope and prosperity to the other 97% that live in complete poverty. Our message to the Mexican government is that it's time Mexico reforms their economy and nation so their citizens can find prosperity at home, without being enslaved and exploited in both Mexico and in the U.S. as they illegally enter our nation. It's also a day in which America can declare independence from cheap labor that is being exploited at the expense of the unemployed American workers who can and were doing those same jobs previously.  
 
Friends of the Border Patrol continues to hope that those leaders of our government who have pledged to uphold the law will join us, and we invite President Bush, Commissioner Bonner, Members of Congress, and Governor Schwarzenegger to join us on the border. For those Members of Congress at the very least, in the halls of Congress, and that they will lift the restrictions on Border Patrol agents that prevent them from doing their jobs, whether on duty or not. 
 
For those who may stand in opposition to our Border Watch, they need to realize that this is about America and putting the most important special interest group of all in our top priority and that is supporting and defending the American people. At the same point, those in opposition need to realize that something must be done about the poverty and lack of prosperity for people in Mexico, due to their leaders in Mexico City, and by our own government officials who support this continued slavery and exploitation of cheap labor. FBP is effectively addressing these issues.

For more information visit FriendsOfTheBorderPatrol.com 

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