A simmering illegal-immigration debate at the University of Texas at San Antonio— where 45 percent of students are Hispanic — erupted into a heated protest Wednesday during an outdoor speech by Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group of volunteers who patrol the Mexican border to stop immigrants from entering the country illegally.
UTSA's chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas invited Simcox to speak to draw attention to the lack of security on the border, said Laura Morales, the group's executive director.
Liberal groups descended on the Simcox talk, booing and chanting "Racist, fascist go away!" into bullhorns throughout the speech and clashing with university police, who were pushing them away from the stage. The spectacle drew a crowd of about 750 to the university's Sombrilla Plaza, making it perhaps the largest culture clash on campus to date.
Before the protest, school administrators asked protesters to allow Simcox to speak without interference, but they resisted.
"This guy represents hatred and murdering of immigrants on the border," said senior Jonathan Bryant. "We're not just going to sit back and let that happen."
Struggling to be heard amid the noise, Simcox scolded the audience for their behavior.
"Thank God I taught kindergarten for the past 13 years; it helped me prepare for this kind of crap," he said. "What you see here is a vigilante lynch mob."
Police pushed back the mass of angry students, and at least one protester fell , but no one was arrested. When Simcox left earlier than planned, the crowd cheered wildly.
In his speech, Simcox said he believed in immigrants' rights, and that his Minutemen stood watch on the border to rescue the families from dying in the desert. He also called the North American Free Trade Agreement an economic disaster and said Latin America needed to do more to help its citizens.
"We are not haters," Simcox said. "We are trying to solve a problem."
Though Simcox's platform sounded measured, protesters weren't buying it.
"He's racist," said Justin Felux, a member of the Student Worker Teacher Alliance, the group that organized the protest. "It's a continuation of the Ku Klux Klan border watch in the 1970s."
Fliers distributed by Felux's group claimed the Minutemen are linked with white supremacist organizations, a claim that Simcox denies.
"He's not racist, he cares about the border and he cares about America," said Morales, director of the conservative group. "It was the great philosopher John Locke who told us if the government is not providing for you, you have the right to do something for yourself."
Earlier this year, Morales' group gathered signatures to remove the so-called "border crossing statue," a bronze sculpture in the Sombrilla plaza on campus that depicts a family crossing the border. Like the Simcox event, the petition drew more protesters than supporters.
UTSA's isn't the only Young Conservatives chapter sparking controversy on campus. In 2005, members at the University of North Texas in Denton drew criticism for staging a mock roundup of undocumented immigrants. Passersby won a candy bar if they "caught" another student wearing a shirt marked "illegal immigrant."
Morales said she supported the Denton students' effort, but would not do the same at UTSA because it "would not come off as well."
Carla De Leon, a 23-year-old criminal justice major who stopped to read the anti-Simcox flier, said she didn't agree with the civilian border patrols. Her parents both crossed the border from Mexico and are now U.S. citizens, she said.
"I am surprised how they could do this at such a diverse university," De Leon said. "He's lucky that he was born here. Because otherwise he would be going through the same struggles" as immigrants.
mludwig@express-news.net 
