BYU NewsNet - Keyes, Minuteman leader to speak on border issues

Alan Keyes, a former Reagan administration diplomat, will discuss border security and immigration Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Provo City Library ballroom.

He will address America's continuing political debate over securing international borders with the topic "Solutions to America's Border Crisis."

The speech and following question and answer session will focus on national security and the protection of United States borders, President Bush's latest security proposals and the visit of President Vicente Fox of Mexico to Utah.

Keyes sees Utah as something of a hotbed for the immigration issue, and giving the lecture in Provo "was all his idea," said Stephen Stone, president of RenewAmerica, one of the organizations sponsoring the lecture.

"He's an expert on political affairs," said Stone, who has worked closely with Keyes in recent years. "He wants to come and discuss ... the context of the whole immigration problem. This is a really timely issue to discuss right about now."

Keyes said he was looking forward to speaking in Utah as it is a state where the people are "committed to the faith, values and decency that have made this nation strong and free," according to RenewAmerica.

Stone said Keyes is also interested in the immigration aspect of the Utah political race between Chris Cannon and John Jacob, although he does not endorse either candidate.

Keyes served in the U.S. State Department for 11 years. He was also Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations under President Reagan and an ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Joining Keyes on the program will be Carmen Mercer, a spokeswoman for the nationwide Minuteman Political Action Committee, the fundraising arm of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. The volunteer border watch group monitors illegal immigration into the United States and, according to its Web site, is seeking to "demand that President Bush, members of Congress and the Senate maintain an orderly queue of entry into our country."

Also on the agenda will be a free screening of the prize-winning documentary "Cochise County: Cries from the Border," which was shot by an Arizona woman observing immigrants crossing the border right outside her Cochise County home.

Admission to the event will be free and the public is invited to attend. Besides RenewAmerica, sponsoring organizations include the Utah Eagle Forum and the Minuteman Political Action Committee.