Following the 2004 election results, Californian activists joined several groups with the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR), The Minuteman Project and its myriad of independent and affiliated splinter groups, and Save Our State (SOS) being the largest and most active organizations.

Whereas the Minuteman Project focused its energies on border enforcement and would become a huge international sensation in 2005, groups like the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) and Save Our State (SOS) ratcheted up their grassroots activism in the interior.

This will be a two-part retrospective look at the history of anti-illegal immigration activism in California. Please note that this is not an exhaustive and detailed examination but a short primer. ​

Recent reports of illegal immigration raids and deportation hearings reminded me of events that transpired more than a decade ago.

Up until 2004, the immigration issue had basically dropped from the radar.

The media is and has been a joke for a long time – just ask any anti-illegal immigration activist who was fighting for his country more than a decade ago.

They didn’t just turn into “fake news” in 2016. It has always been that way.