How many Americans would ever vote if they had to go in person to some government office, obtain an application, fill it out, go to a post office and return it by registered mail?

203

It's a rational way to reduce your risk. Most of them are getting caught at least once in the San Diego sector, but it is a more attractive option for many. The smugglers have obviously made that calculation too, that people are more willing to be smuggled through the San Diego sector than through the Arizona desert.

191

Vigilante groups are bit players in the current immigration debate.

176

At most, would-be migrants and the people-smugglers who assist them find these groups to be a fleeting obstacle that they can easily detour around.

159

Local politicians are catering to the conservative Republicans in the electorate, who are far more likely to support restrictive immigration policies than Democrats, independents, or the general public.

156

There is simply no credible evidence that the Minutemen have deterred any Mexicans from leaving home, coming to the border and trying to gain entry until they succeed.

148

I think it's a virtual certainty that the low turnout this time around will be used by opponents to say this was a misbegotten project that never should have happened in the first place.

140

Immigration would have been a big issue whether or not the Minutemen had ever existed, because numerous Republican politicians have chosen it to be the wedge issue of this election year.

139

It's unfortunate, because people who were against the absentee ballot in the first place will use this to say there isn't an adequate constituency for it in the immigrant community. They will use this as an argument for not improving the process to make it more user-friendly.

122