September 29, 2022
Volume 52 - No. 40
by lyle e davis
So you’ve heard the latest? The number of migrant arrests carried out along the U.S.Mexico border in fiscal year 2022 surpassed 2 million in August, an all-time high driven in part by unprecedented levels of migration from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, according to government sources. Clearly, the federal governThe Paper - 760.747.7119
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ment and state government are not doing their job. In the Old West, when law enforcement was spotty or nonexistent, vigilantes sometimes stepped in. A known cattle rustler might be found facedown in a gully with a terminal case of "lead poisoning," as they used to say in TV westerns. The word ‘vigilante’ has been around for awhile.
It is being used more and more often today . . . and rather than taking on a negative impression more and more of the public appear to be sympathetic to such a movement. Why?
It appears to be simply because the federal government has not been doing their job. When the public sees that elected officials are not doing
Vigilantes! Continued on Page 2
their job they often roll up their sleeves, adopt an attitude of, “if they can’t or won’t do it, we will.”
The term ‘vigilante’ came into being largely due to the formation of San Francisco’s Committee on Vigilance, formed by citizens in 1851 to combat organized crime. Later, the 1856 Vigilance Movement became even more active.