To the Rescue

"Every minute, they're crossing our borders looking for quick-cash jobs, transportation and accommodations," the voice intones. "Some may be Mideastern terrorists with look-alike resemblance to our south-of-the-border neighbors."

The second message: "Did you know that your congressmen and the president take an oath of office ... to protect each state from invasion? So what about the millions of illegals from alien nations crossing our borders ... ? Is that an invasion? Would you call a burglar in your home a houseguest?"

And then the third: "These folks in Washington, D.C. ... are granting amnesty to illegal aliens, and giving them everything from Social Security to free health care is just the tip of the iceberg.... Is that what you want? We don't think so."

At the end of each recording comes an announcement that this has been "a public service message from the Kansas Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. —nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonpartisan."

Hayes is trying to get local stations to carry the radio spots for free. Illegal immigration should be getting as much press as the war in Iraq, he says. It's up to citizens to educate themselves. (Hayes tells the Pitch that sources for his facts include the national Minuteman organization and the weekly radio show hosted and broadcast over the Web by Chris Simcox, the group's controversial founder.)

"They've taken over California," Hayes tells the crowd. "They're working on Arizona, New Mexico, Texas. We're going to become a minority of illegal immigration." He tells them to research the National Council of La Raza — the nation's largest advocacy organization focusing on the civil rights, education and employment of Hispanic Americans. "They're a Salvadoran group of terrorists. We have them in Kansas City right now. La Raza believes the Southwest is theirs and we should leave. They want illegals to come up here and have babies and take over the United States."

Hayes' emotion builds before he stops for a disclaimer that punctuates each meeting.

"This may insult some of your intelligence. But we're not bigots. We're American patriots. If you're a skinhead or a member of an extremist group, leave now."

(Before the meeting, Hayes told the Pitch: "We've been called bigots, racists, homophobes. I could go on and on. When the pro-illegal-immigration folks start cutting us down like that, though, we know we're doing something right. When they start calling me names, I look at them and I see the real racist. Because we are not. They're either a racist or an employer.")

Hayes tells the group that these issues are too important for the Minutemen to be intimidated by schoolyard name-calling. There are terrorist camps in Mexico, he says.

"They're teaching Middle Easterners Spanish, teaching them how to dress Hispanic, and now they're all over this country, and Lord knows what they'll do." He says illegal aliens are draining the health-care system, bankrupting hospitals and crowding schools. As a former law-enforcement officer, Hayes says, the thing that really burns him is the impact on public safety.

"They're in vehicular accidents where they leave the scene or have no insurance," he says. "Rapes, robberies, killing cops and running back to their home country —these people are breaking the law every day they're here. They're 10 percent of the nation's crime, and our prisons are full of them."

Audience members nod in agreement.

This is the second meeting Hayes has convened. The Kansas chapter's inaugural meeting in late August drew more than 30 people to a conference room at the Central Branch of the Johnson County Public Library in Overland Park. Hayes announced that his goal was to set up chapters in each of the state's 105 counties.

Hayes had prepared fliers containing a list of "What We Need To Do As Kansans." Included in the action plan: "Identify illegal aliens," "identify illegal alien residences," "identify landlords of illegal aliens," "identify employer pickup points," "identify employers of illegal aliens" and "contact your local Sheriff and Chief of Police requesting their diligence in apprehending illegal aliens."

But that's not all.

"One thing we're interested in is a salvage yard where illegals go each week," he tells the crowd. "There's a trend where, when we show up, they leave."

He says he's encouraged by what happened in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where the City Council passed an ordinance to identify and financially penalize business owners and landlords who employ or house undocumented immigrants. Hayes wants Kansas municipalities to pass similar resolutions (though the controversial measure is under injunction awaiting a lawsuit in federal court).

Hayes tells the people in the audience that they can become members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps for $50 — the cost of the required criminal background check.

Then he opens the meeting to comments.

"If they had uniforms on, they'd be an army," a woman says.

"They are an army," another says.

A dark-haired woman in the back row chimes in. "I was driving down Metcalf the other day, and there was a big truck that said 'Viva La Raza.' I mean, they're already here."

"We're under a well-organized invasion," Hayes says. t's the last day of September, a few days after the Operation U-Turn confab at the Clarion. At 4 p.m., Randall Cox is on his third beer at the Jazz Louisiana Kitchen in Lee's Summit.