Minuteman Meltdown?

Huckabee campaign manager Ed Rollins said the Huckabee immigration plan is to build a fence within 18 months, deport illegal immigrants and make legal immigration faster and easier. Rollins said they believe they have the best plan for illegal immigration, but sometimes passionate groups split with leaders.

“In any group that has strong emotions, which certainly the Minutemen and others have, there’s always leadership battles. There’s always people that don’t like people that get too much attention,” Rollins said.

Gilchrist said he supports Huckabee as a more moderate candidate than Ron Paul, who is popular with his critics.

He said Paul supporters are generally of the ultra-right mentality.

The extremism of this faction of the anti-illegal immigration movement is a factor in its demise, Gilchrist said.

“While Ron Paul himself is a pretty good guy, his supporters are lunatics,” Gilchrist said. “They’re as dangerous and vile as the reconquistas on the left.”

The presidential primaries are just one example of an issue causing rifts within the border enforcement movement, but some activists say the differences may not be such a bad thing.

“Internal turmoil and dissension is always the sign of a growing and expanding movement,” Rohrabacher said

According to Garcia, the movement is fracturing because illegal immigration has become a major issue that no longer needs a united front to survive.

“A lot of established groups are starting to split up because it’s much more mainstream,” Garcia said. “There’s no longer a need to place yourself into a niche and say, ‘I’m a Minuteman’ or ‘I’m a member of Save Our State.’ All concerned citizens of America can call themselves Minutemen.”

Rohrabacher agrees with that assessment. He said upstart movements have to stick together.

“When a movement is small and inconsequential, people tend to get along better because it’s almost family-like,” Rohrabacher said.

JOSH ADEN may be reached at (714) 966-4609 or at josh.aden@latimes.com.