Tucson – A civilian border-patrol group said Tuesday it plans to build two short security fences on a ranch in southern Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chris Simcox, a leader in the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, has said that the group would break ground on the fence unless the White House sent troops to the border by May 25 and endorsed more secure fencing.
“We are not anticipating that the White House will make any effort in the next 2 1/2 weeks as far as putting troops on the border,” Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair said.
The group initially plans to erect two parallel 15-foot steel- mesh fences, 50 to 150 feet long.
Hair declined to reveal the location of the fences.
“If private citizens want to construct something on their property … who is the Border Patrol to say they can’t do it?” said Todd Fraser, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman in Washington.
