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BISBEE -- A group of illegal immigrants reportedly detained by members of the Tombstone-based Civil Homeland Defense has stirred Mexican officials and a pro-immigrant group in the United States to demand an investigation of the Aug. 1 incident.
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said deputies investigated the incident on the day it allegedly occurred. While five of the illegal immigrants said weapons were brandished, the other 24 said no such thing happened, he said.
The founder of Civil Homeland Defense denied that his group brandished any weapons during the incident.
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Members of the Civil Homeland Defense stopped the 29 illegal immigrants and called the U.S Border Patrol, the sheriff said this morning.
After the federal agents arrived on the scene and were reportedly told about being held by armed members of the civilian organization, the Sheriff's Department was notified, and deputies showed up to investigate the allegations, Dever said.
Although five of the people said they felt threatened and fearful when members of the Civil Homeland Defense waved weapons around, they did not want to make a formal complaint, the sheriff said.
Mexican Consul Miguel Escobar Valdez from Douglas said he talked with the illegal immigrants. The five who said they saw weapons being used to threaten them did not want to make a complaint with U.S. officials, he said.
"They did not want to get embroiled as material witnesses," Escobar said.
It is always a difficult matter to get people who cross the border illegally to make complaints, he said.
"They just want to go back to Mexico," Escobar said.
A synopsis of the complaint he obtained was that some members of the Civil Homeland Defense suddenly appeared, the consul said.
"They had guns in their belts and others were widely waving pistols," Escobar said he was told by those he interviewed.
Chris Simcox, founder and leader of the Tombstone group, denied that weapons were drawn and used to threaten the illegal immigrants.
"They were docile," he said of the group, which included six children, 10 women and 13 men.
They apparently mistook walkie-talkies as guns, Simcox said.
As for having weapons in holsters on belts, he said the group's policy is to carry guns in a concealed manner so as not to intimate anyone.
"We don't pull our weapons," he said.
Because of concern that the walkie-talkies may have been interpreted as guns because it was dusk and getting dark, Simcox said the organization is obtaining new equipment that will be placed on belts and will have ear pieces so members of Civil Homeland Defense can communicate without appearing to be threatening.
Dever said that anytime his deputies are called about illegal immigrants being held, the results of the investigations go to the county attorney and the U.S. Attorney in Arizona.
So far, no charges have been made, he added.
"We deal in evidence. There has to be criminal conduct and there has to be proof of it," the sheriff said.
Since the five who said they felt threatened by Simcox's group would not make a formal complaint, Dever said without documentation nothing can be proven.
Like Escobar, he said they were interested in going back to Mexico.
To the sheriff, the illegal immigrants wanted to return south of the border so they could again try to enter the United States illegally.
For people who enter the United States illegally, especially if they are Mexicans, coming across U.S. citizens in Cochise County having weapons is something they are not prepared for, Dever said.
The sheriff also said people who are demanding an investigation, including those seeking illegal immigrants who reportedly were threatened by armed U.S. citizens, are causing additional problems for rural law enforcement agencies such as his department.
SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 458-9440 Ext. 115.
Joe Hicks wrote on Oct 8, 2007 2:22 PM: