Minuteman's high-tech border barrier called 'a cow fence' - CNN.com
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The fence to help stop illegal immigration was the dream of Chris Simcox, the founder and president of the Minuteman Defense Corps.
The group has chapters throughout the country, with Minuteman members from as far away as New Hampshire making the trip down to Arizona to participate in citizens' border patrols. They are doing a job Simcox says the federal government is not doing well enough.
Simcox, who participated in border patrols as recently as October, has said, "If elected officials will not lead, then it's up to the citizens."
Volunteers say they heeded Simcox's call because they believe illegal immigration is a grave threat to the security of the United States. They say that they are patriots hoping to make a difference and that they want to help make the United States safe in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
"Here we were, grandparents, and we were willing to go down to the border and do something our government wouldn't do," explained Sandy Doty, a former member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.
On the Minuteman Web site and in e-mails to members, Simcox asked for donations while making big promises, including a vow to build a fence along the border. It was not just any fence; it was to be 2,000 miles of state-of-the-art fencing at a cost of $55 million.
Simcox described it as "our high-tech, double-layered gauntlet of deterrent."
The fence was described on the Minuteman Web site as 14 feet high, with security cameras and sensors, topped with razor wire and flanked by ditches to stop vehicles. Simcox referred to it as an "Israeli-style" fence, similar to the barrier Israel has erected to keep Palestinians from crossing from the West Bank.
Many Minuteman state and national leaders said that the fence proposal was a complete surprise to them.
"All of a sudden we hear, 'We are going to build a fence if the government doesn't build it!' We all looked at each other and said, 'What!'" said David Jones, a former Minuteman member.
Donations started flowing in. One man actually mortgaged his home and contributed more than $100,000. And on Memorial Day of last year, there was a groundbreaking ceremony on John Ladd's Arizona ranch. But what the Minutemen were building was not a tall, Israeli-style fence.
Former member Bob Wright said, "It wasn't until they actually started the ceremony that it became clear. It was gonna be a cow fence!"
It was a five-strand barbed wire fence that would keep Ladd's cattle in and keep Mexican cattle out. Ladd said he is happy with the fence. But some Minuteman leaders were stunned. In their first-ever interview, these former Simcox lieutenants told CNN they believed that the groundbreaking was a ploy by Simcox to raise even more money.
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