TUCSON - Arizona members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps plan a weekend patrol to watch for illegal immigrants in the Three Points area southwest of Tucson.

Some 50 to 65 volunteers are expected for the operation Saturday and Sunday along three to four miles of a dirt road off Arizona 286, said Stacey O'Connell, head of the civilian border patrol organization's Arizona chapter.

Three Points, about 35 miles north of the border, has become a popular pickup point over the last year or so for smugglers to get migrants who have made their way north _ both on foot or in vehicles _ to Tucson and Phoenix.

Minuteman volunteers patrolled part of the Arizona-Mexico border near Naco last April, reporting sightings of illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol. The effort garnered national attention and served to launch similar patrols in other parts of the country.

The road targeted near Three Points runs through heavy washes in typical rocky and sandy Sonoran desert terrain, O'Connell said.

"Ranchers have a lot of valid complaints about damage to property," from fences to broken water pumps and cattle slaughtered for food, O'Connell said. One rancher has spent more than $40,000 repairing a water pump, he said...