PHOENIX — Minutemen groups, a surge in Border Patrol agents and a tough new immigration law aren’t enough for a reputed neo-Nazi leading a militia in the Arizona desert.
Jason “J.T.” Ready is taking matters into his own hands, declaring war on “narco-terrorists” and keeping an eye out for illegal immigrants. So far, he said, his patrols have found only a few border crossers, who were given water and handed over to the Border Patrol. Once, they also found a decaying body in a wash and alerted authorities.
But local law enforcement officials are nervous given that Ready’s group is heavily armed and identifies with the National Socialist Movement, an organization that believes only non-Jewish, white heterosexuals should be American citizens and that everyone who isn’t white should leave the country “peacefully or by force.”
“We’re not going to sit around and wait for the government anymore,” Ready said. “This is what our founding fathers did.”
An escalation of civilian border watches has taken root in Arizona in recent years, including the Minutemen movement. Groups patrol the desert on foot, on horseback and in airplanes and report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol. Generally, they have not caused problems for law enforcement.
But Ready, a 37-year-old ex-Marine, is different. He and his friends are outfitted with military fatigues, body armor and gas masks, and they carry assault rifles. Ready takes offense at the term “neo-Nazi” but admits he identifies with the National Socialist Movement.
Ready is a reflection of the anger over illegal immigration in Arizona. Gov. Jan Brewer signed a controversial immigration law in April that requires police, while enforcing other laws, to question a person’s immigration status if officers have a reasonable suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
But Brewer hasn’t done enough, Ready said, and he is not satisfied with President Barack Obama’s decision to beef up security at the border.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said there haven’t been any incidents with the group as it patrols his jurisdiction, which includes several busy immigrant smuggling corridors. But Babeu is concerned because an untrained group acting without the authority of the law could cause “extreme problems” and put itself and others in danger.
