We Need to Put Troops on the Border

Illegal aliens trespass, sue farm owner
by Chad Groening

An immigration reform activist finds it scary that a federal judge is allowing illegal immigrants to sue an American rancher who was trying to protect his property.

Roger Barnett's Arizona ranch has been called the avenue of choice for alien trespassers trying to enter the country illegally. Over the years, the rancher says they have trashed his property and killed his livestock, prompting him to begin fighting back in 1998. According to the Associated Press, for the last ten years Barnett has rounded up more than 12,000 illegal aliens and turned them over to federal authorities.

On March 7, 2004, Barnett encountered 16 illegals, who he detained until Border Patrol agents arrived. Now the pro-illegal alien group known as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, is representing the 16 illegals in a lawsuit against Barnett, claiming he violated their civil rights.

Also named in the lawsuit are Barnett's wife Barbara, his brother Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff of Cochise County where the Barnetts live. Susan Tully of the Federation for American Immigration Reform says MALDEF is trying to bankrupt this hardworking American citizen.

"[They are] using impunities against people to get money out of them, and using the legal system to tie these cases up in court and basically bankrupt you if necessary in order to get your money away from you," she contends.

Tully argues that Barnett should never have had to take matters into his own hands. "If the MALDEF people can get another win and beat back the American citizen once again for protecting his own property because the United States government isn't there to do the job they should be doing," she notes, "which was to protect Roger Barnett in the beginning and keeping the illegal aliens off of his property."

She calls this situation a really scary scenario for U.S. citizens.