Volunteers for the nation's largest civilian border patrol started watching sections of several border states on Friday.
But it's questionable how much support the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has been able to garner for the monthlong patrol.
The Associated Press has reported that infighting, charges of racism and allegations of financial mismanagement have created rifts within the movement. And so far, the media have paid less attention than in April when, at times, reporters outnumbered the minutemen as they watched a 23-mile stretch of Arizona border.
Chris Simcox, president of the national minuteman project, has played down reports that the number of volunteers nationwide is less than half of the 10,000 he had previously predicted.
Simcox said just over 4,000 volunteers signed up to watch the borders this month in all of the southern border states and eight of the northern border states. New York's patrol won't start until later in the month.
"We had received over 10,000 requests from people interested in volunteering," he said. "I'd be happy with one."
Connie Hair, spokeswoman for the minuteman group, said the number of volunteers is growing.
"We're getting new folks every single day," she said.
About eight volunteers from Utah will join the project starting next week, said Alex Segura of the Utah Minuteman Project.
Simcox said the minutemen are successfully assisting law enforcement in a "peaceful, law-abiding way." He said volunteers don't detain anyone but watch the borders and report illegal crossings to authorities.
"Our goal has already been met in that we have expanded to the northern border as well as . . . continuing to educate American citizens about the lack of border security," Simcox said.
Simcox said his group is financially sound. However, a Minuteman Civil Defense Corps e-mail sent late last month and signed by Simcox said overhead for the October operation has doubled because volunteers started patrolling after Hurricane Katrina to fill in for about 240 U.S. Border Patrol agents dispatched to the Gulf Coast.
Media attention after the April patrols, which organizers said drew about 900 volunteers to southeastern Arizona, helped Simcox raise $150,000.
Simcox said he sold his newspaper, the Tombstone Tumbleweed, and now works full time organizing the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. He said he does not take a salary from the corporation he formed and filed for nonprofit status in May. The group has 20 chapters and members from 48 states.
The national attention also led to the formation of at least a dozen spin-off organizations not affiliated with Simcox.
The U.S. Border Patrol continues to oppose civilians patrolling the nation's borders, said Border Patrol spokesman Mario Villarreal.
In a related matter, Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the national minuteman movement, will be one of 17 candidates on an open primary ballot today when voters in California's 48th District go to the polls to fill a congressional seat vacated by Republican Christopher Cox.
Contributing: The Associated Press
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com