by TChris

The vigilante* group known as the Minuteman Project is declaring victory and calling it quits, at least with regard to its central mission: hanging out in the desert and attempting to spot undocumented entrants who crossed the Mexican border. The mayor of Douglas, Arizona is less sanguine about the group's claim of success.

Ray Borane, the mayor of Douglas, said the effort had been "very superficial and clearly insincere." "It doesn't surprise me that they ended it," he said. "As soon as the media packed up and left, they left as well. All they accomplished was being a hindrance to the Border Patrol and creating international hard feelings. Their biggest accomplishment was getting the media's attention. It was, as the Mexicans say, all song and no opera."

But watch out-- the group's spokesman, Gray Deacon, warns that the Minuteman Project will return, putting "between 10,000 and 21,000 people on the border in all four Southwestern states" if the Bush administration fails to secure the border. The boastful estimate seems a bit puffed, given the "roughly 750 volunteers" presently on patrol.