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  Minutemen Gaining in Immigration Debate
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ContributorBob 
Last EditedBob  Apr 26, 2006 04:31pm
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MediaWebsite - Yahoo News
News DateWednesday, April 26, 2006 10:30:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionIRVINE, Calif. - Laurie Lisonbee worried about illegal immigration but figured it was somebody else's issue — until she saw hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marching across her TV screen.

Soon, Lisonbee had recruited several friends to attend a demonstration by the Minuteman Project, a volunteer group that patrols the border to keep out illegal immigrants. Now, the 51-year-old art professor checks the group's Web site daily and plans a summer trip to the Mexican border to help build a fence.

Minuteman organizers say this spring's marches have proved to be an unexpected recruitment tool for Americans who feel uneasy about the burgeoning immigration movement but may have considered the organization a pack of gun-toting vigilantes.

"We're not trying to be more mainstream — mainstream has found us," said Stephen Eichler, the group's executive director. "They're saying, 'These guys actually have teeth, they don't all chew tobacco, they don't all have a gun rack in the back of their truck.' They're saying, `They believe what I believe,' and they're joining us."

Lisonbee, a registered Republican, said only one issue matters to her now.

"My vote will go to the candidate who's the toughest on immigration, whether they're Democrat or Republican," she said from her home in Orem, Utah. "Before, we were pretty much the types of people who would call our congressmen and not take to the streets. But that's all changed now."

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