Witnessing for peace along Canada-U.S. border

Langley, B.C.

Concerned about the increasing militarization of American border watchers, 18 members of Ploughshares Fraser Valley-including a number of Mennonites-recently gathered at five sites along the Canada-U.S. border to call attention to the presence of self-appointed "vigilantes" called Minutemen.

Since 2005, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has actively advocated such measures as building high fences along the borders of the United States. Sporting signs like "Stop the Invasion," and claiming to protect the U.S. from illegal aliens, terrorists and smugglers, volunteers with the Washington State Minuteman group have regularly posted themselves along the Canadian …