City's border breached by Minutemen

The Laguna Beach Patriot's Day Committee may have a fight on its hands in rejecting the Minuteman Project from marching in the March 4 parade.

Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist vows to file a lawsuit on the grounds of discrimination, and he could have a case.

Parade organizers didn't ask or want to tangle with Gilchrist, whose group has been protesting since last spring at the city's job center on Laguna Canyon Road. The protests have been greeted with disgust by most in the community, who remember the days when day-labor seekers were gathered on the city's sidewalks and street corners willy-nilly, instead of being accommodated in an organized fashion with facilities and toilets.

Worse, the Minutemen's fight over "patrolling the nation's borders" has attracted some most unsavory elements -- such as Nazi sympathizers toting swastikas -- to freedom-loving Laguna.

In keeping with the community's sense of fair play and practicality with respect to the job-seekers -- who aren't asked their immigration status -- Gilchrist's supporters have been turned down time and again by the City Council in their demand that the center be immediately shut down.

One has to wonder why Gilchrist would want to impose his presence on the town's cozy little parade, if not to try to pressure the city into shutting the center, as recently happened in Costa Mesa.

Ever since the Costa Mesa City Council closed its job center and ordered police to enforce immigration laws in certain instances, there has been a feeling that Laguna is next.

While we understand and appreciate the feeling of parade organizers that this fight should not be part of the annual parade, it has come to the city's doors.

Since the Laguna Beach Vigil for Peace and other activist groups are permitted to show their patriotism publicly on that day, Laguna may not be able to close its borders to the Minutemen in the future.