For the second time this month, western Iowa Congressman Steve King has made a trip to the U.S./Mexico border. King flew into Tucson, Arizona on Friday morning, then he went down to the border and met with a small group of border control officers. King says the officers “wanted to have an opportunity to address a congressman…and not be on the record with their remarks, but to give (a congressman) a feel for what it’s like to be on the border.” King, a Republican from Kiron (KY-run), has advocated construction of a concrete fence along the nation’s southern border to stem the tide of illegal immigration. On Saturday, King helped a group called “The Minutemen” put up a barbed wire fence along a small portion of the border. “They will keep building fence as long as there are resources and manpower,” King says. “It looks like there is plenty of manpower.” King was among two-hundred volunteers who attended a news conference Saturday morning, then built fence in the afternoon. “Part of the effort was also to send a message nationwide that there are plenty of Americans (who) are ready to take this border control into their own hands,” King says. The fence is being built in southeastern Arizona on a cattle ranch. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps formed in 2002 and its first patrol was along that 10-mile stretch of the border. President Bush has referred to the group as vigilantes. Congressman King was in western Iowa on Memorial Day, giving speeches at ceremonies in Denison and Sioux City.
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