"My country has let me down." That's the assessment of an Arizona rancher who was sued by six illegal immigrants he detained on his property and turned over to the Border Patrol in 2004.
On Tuesday an eight-member federal jury in Tucson threw out the claim brought by the six illegal aliens that Roger Barnett violated their civil rights when he detained them at gunpoint on his ranch nearly five years ago. The panel also ruled against the plaintiffs' claims of battery and false imprisonment. But the jury did find Barnett liable on four claims of assault and four claims of emotional distress, ordering him to pay $77,804 in damages, $60,000 of which were punitive. The Arizona rancher says he would not have had to detain the illegal immigrants if the U.S. government did its job and kept them from trampling across his property. "My government has let me down. My government has let all of the American people down, whether they know it of not," Barnett laments. "They might think that it's their right to come in the country but it's not. There's [sic] laws and ways to come into this country, and it's not by sneaking across the Mexican border down there." Barnett says the government has left him no choice but to personally detain close to 14,000 illegals over the years and turn them over to the Border Patrol. He claims that is why he has been a target of this lawsuit. "If they're not going to help me, what am I going to do -- throw the ranch away? Back off? ....All these groups like [the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund]...there's a Voter Action Network in Tucson, they're just a small group -- they don't like what I'm doing, what I'm saying. And they're trying to put a stop to me." This is not the first time Barnett has been sued by illegal immigrants. Associated Press reports that his actions have resulted in formal complaints from the Mexican government against what it considers vigilante actions, and in several other lawsuits.
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