Item #1–As noted by Chris Kelly last week on The Immigration Blog, Minuteman Project co-founder and newspaper publisher Chris Simcox was barred by Bush administration officials from attending a Department of Homeland Security press conference with DHS chief Michael Chertoff. The Washington Times follows up today:

The press conference, at the Border Patrol’s field office in Douglas, was attended by Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, Arizona Republicans, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat.

Mr. Simcox is requesting help from the ACLU, which stationed “legal observers” along the Arizona border during the Minutemen’s monthlong vigil in April to ensure that the civil rights of foreigners crossing illegally into the United States were not violated by Mr. Simcox and his volunteers.

“I showed up with press credentials and was held outside the gate,” Mr. Simcox said, adding that he was told by a Border Patrol agent that Chief Michael Nicely, who heads the agency’s Tucson sector, had ordered him barred from the press conference.

A BP spokesman said Simcox was barred for “security reasons.”

Item #2–As reported here over the weekend, organizers of an open-borders rally to protest the REAL ID Act and demand amnesty tried to prevent radio talk show host Michael Graham from attending the event held on public high school grounds. Cops on the scene directed traffic for the illegal alien advocates and provided protection for rally attendees, but refused to ensure Graham’s safety while wearing a controversial INS t-shirt.

They pulled him aside for “security” reasons as well.

Profiling! Political persecution of minorities! Abridgement of free speech!

Where are the you-know-who when you need them?

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