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Conflict on the border

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) agrees that the federal government must act to secure American borders ("Minuteman volunteers vow to keep border secure," Page 1, Monday). An amateur volunteer civilian border patrol like the Minutemen is not the answer. If a dozen years of sustained and unparalleled growth in Border Patrol agents has not curtailed illegal immigration, a handful or scores of self-styled amateur Minutemen will not do the job or serve the national interest.

Instead, as Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, key to the administration's enforcement strategy is a temporary worker program that would provide an incentive to foreign workers to "come out of the shadows" and acquire legal status.

The administration is correct that comprehensive immigration reform should encompass both a process (such as that of the bipartisan McCain-Kennedy bill) for legalization of immigrants who are already here, contributing to the American economy and American society, as well as increased enforcement at our land, sea, and air entry points.

The Minutemen lack the training to enforce federal immigration law, are not well-supervised, and are prone to vigilantism. Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union reported that a Minuteman volunteer from Colorado was arrested after he gave a ride to two migrants in his car.

According to the Border Patrol, the volunteer came across the migrants after they flagged him down for food and water while he was driving in Hidalgo County. Allowing Minutemen to take the law into their own hands and determine who has a legal right to be in this country is an affront to the rule of law and a dangerous step toward racial profiling and violence against Latinos, regardless of their immigration status.

America needs true immigration reform that is comprehensive, bipartisan and backed by effective federal leadership and widespread public support. Self-help is no help to the Border Patrol or the American people.

ERIC M. GUTIERREZ