Minuteman Volunteers Build Fence; Immigrants Ready for Protests

BOULEVARD, Calif. — As immigrants and their supporters prepared for a massive boycott on Monday, opponents of illegal immigration went to work building a border fence meant to symbolize their support of a secure border.

About 200 volunteers organized by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California began building a 6-foot barbed wire fence Saturday along a quarter-mile stretch of rugged terrain in Boulevard, about 50 miles east of San Diego.

Tim Donnelly, the group's leader, said volunteers ate apple pie and hot dogs as they worked on the fence, which was connected to an existing 12-foot-high fence previously built by the federal government.

The volunteers wanted to send a message to Congress that the government should block entry to the United States and not grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, Donnelly said.