Border Keepers of Alabama and Its Private Border Enforcement Operations
A few years ago, the Minutemen Project and related groups calling for citizen patrols along the U.S./Mexico border regularly made the news. This news report focuses on a new group based in Alabama, which not long ago was the site of an immigration enforcement law known as H.B. 56.
Border Keepers of Alabama is a group of a few dozen men and women with the stated goal of preventing drugs and people from passing illegally through the border with Mexico. The organization calls itself “BOA” for short. Critics call them vigilantes and racists. Supporters call them patriots and heroes.
Several times a year, BOA runs special operations–or “ops”–on the border with Mexico. Between four and ten men usually go on these trips, joining up with like-minded groups from across the country. They call themselves “three percenters,” a reference to the three percent of soon-to-be Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War. The Border Keepers of Alabama have traditionally focused their attention on Brownsville, Texas. In April 2016, they shifted gears, sending men for the second time to an op near Nogales, Arizona. Here is a report on a the BOA trip to Arizona.
KJ