A spray painted message captures the sentiment of the townspeople of Nogales Mexico, ” Fronteras; ci catrices en la tierra.” Borders; scars on earth.

White wooden crosses hang from a wall that separates Nogales from Arizona; each cross represents a person who lost their life while trying to cross over to the United States.

At first glance it seemed like some sort of politically minded installment art, then I read the names on the crosses and saw the collection of withering flowers gathering lovingly around them.

I felt sick.

Over spring break I traveled to Tombstone, Ariz. to talk with the Minutemen.

Not the punk band, not the revolutionary war legends, no, these new Minutemen are a group of volunteer Americans who have decided to do something about the problem of immigration.

If you want to be a Minuteman, you will need the following items: one lawn chair, a good pair of binoculars, a decent two way radio and just a touch of over inflated self-righteous delusions of grandeur, which is a requirement for any activist.

I could sit here and bag on the Minutemen all day but the simple truth is that no matter how misguided their intentions, at least they are doing something about a very serious problem.

Simply put, the Minutemen’s problem is with Mexican citizens trying to enter the country illegally to take jobs for less money.

There are a host of other nefarious activities along the border, such as drug smuggling and men called coyotes.

Coyotes take people’s money and promise to lead them into America only to leave them stranded in the desert with no water and no way to protect themselves from the elements.

I cannot blame someone for wanting to escape poverty. Most of these people just want a chance to work so that they can provide for their families.

Still, the corpulent citizens of this country make their way down to the border to keep the Mexicans out.

I guess they don’t have enough to eat. Most of the Minutemen are retired, so it’s not their jobs they are protecting.

I don’t think it is absurd enough; I am taking up collections to purchase a 100-foot inflatable Statue of Liberty to send to the Minutemen.

I probably won’t be able to raise the money before the project comes to an end; I guess I will just have to wait for part deux, ‘Operation Keep Darky Down.’

What will those crazy M-boys do next?

Every single Minuteman I talked to said that thier real beef is with president Bush and his inexhaustible ineptitude.

Now there is some logic I can get behind.

I don’t understand how they can claim that Bush is an idiot when they themselves are using the same school of logic.

Remember when the Twin Towers were blown up and we carpet bombed the citizens of Afghanistan looking for Osama Bin Laden?

What I am saying to you M-boys is, if your problem is with Bush, then why don’t you march your asses down to the White House with your handguns and the latest John Grisham novel and tell him what’s on your mind.

You guys are preaching to the choir out there. Unless you know how to complain in Spanish, you aren’t saying anything to anyone who hasn’t heard it all before.

Thank you, M-boys, for your dedication to your twisted idea of activism; I mean it. That’s not sarcasm, your hearts are in the right place, but your asses are in the wrong one.