I haven't discussed the Minuteman Project, which is a volunteer group that will monitor the Arizona/Mexico border and run off illegal immigrants.  After all, Barber and Malkin do a better job cheerleading that and other immigration issues than I do.

But my ears did perk up when I read about "Mara Salvatrucha", which is a South American gang threatening to attack the Minutemen in order teach them "a lesson".  Here's why:

The MS-13 gang has established major smuggling operations in several areas along the U.S.-Mexico border and have transported hundreds of Central and South Americans -- including gang members -- into the United States in the past two years. The gang also is involved in drug and weapons smuggling.

Gang members in America have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortion, rapes and aggravated assaults. Authorities said that the gang has earned a reputation from the other street gangs as being particularly ruthless and that it will retaliate violently when challenged.

In other words, they'd lose too much money.  Organizations like these make a fortune smuggling illegal immigrants across the Mexican border, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that these guys set up black market operations in the U.S. to provide assistance to them (driver's licenses, SS numbers, bank accounts, etc).

The Minutemen shouldn't blow this threat off.  It only takes one death to give Bush an excuse to act upon it (and the fact that he's labelling them as "vigilantes" is a crying shame).  I think Bush's attitude towards the Mexican government shows he'll be more concerned about the supposed trouble the Minutemen are causing rather than foreign gangs smuggling illegal immigrants in the country and are willing to attack any American that stands in their way.