Are you a concerned citizen worried about the lack of security at the border? Are you a crazy Lou Dobbs supporter who just doesn't have the time to sit at the Mexico/U.S. border in a lawn chair with binoculars? Well, fear no more, because as of November 2007 you can find peace of mind by joining an amateur border-watching Web site called TechnoPatriots.
By making a one-time payment of only $10, and undergoing a short interview process, anyone can keep an eye on the border from the comfort of their own home, with the aid of five wireless cameras posted on light poles and fences at the Arizona-Mexico border.
One TechnoPatriot, Ernie Kubr, who watches the Web site's video feed from his Nebraska home, 1,400 miles away from the Arizona-Mexico border, claims that he has spotted people twice since becoming a member of the service in November.
While neither person was caught, according to ap.org, Kubr claims, "attempting to do the federal government's job helps inspire me."
The co-founder of TechnoPatriots is Jon Healy, who is also part owner of a company that installs wireless cameras.
Healy explained that he started the Web site after business competitors began underbidding him by employing undocumented workers for a fraction of normal labor costs.
What's ironic is that the chief concern for many is that illegal immigrants are taking the jobs of hard-working Americans due to low wages and the willingness to work for cash under the table.
With the time it takes to stare at a computer screen or set up cameras along a lone stretch of the border, couldn't these people be finding work for themselves? Or at least be applying some of their fanatic energy to boycotting businesses that employ undocumented workers?
Personally, I love the idea of some crazy Lou Dobbs types sitting at their desks for hours, desperately seeking movement on their computer screens, especially since their success rate is so incredibly low.
In all, the company claims to have made 160 sightings since November; sightings that led to the capture of 118 illegal citizens. While border control officials could not confirm this number, msnbc.com says it still represents only a small fraction of the more than 1,000 illegal immigrants caught everyday by Border Patrol in Tucson, AZ.
Picturing these people with chest-length beards, missing work and family functions in a feeble attempt to rat out undocumented workers, is oddly amusing.
Just this past weekend Border Patrol recruiters targeted Ohio as the first state where a recruiting blitz will begin in hopes of wrangling in new members. Agent J.D. Thompson explained that the recruiting effort is part of a federal mandate, which looks to increase the number of border control agents by 6,000 by the end of the year.
But, with the promise of remote cameras and an influx of amateur border watchers, perhaps new workers won't be needed, making immigration fanatics like Healy part of the problem rather than the solution.
So, whether you're a violent conservative, or just a mild immigrant crazy, the rest of us can breathe easy knowing that these sites are keeping hundreds of fanatics cooped up at their computers, rather than roaming around in public interacting with the rest of us. t&c;
MIKE WISE IS A SENIOR JOURNALISM MAJOR AND COLUMNIST FOR THE t&c.;
