Guarding our nation's borders against a sea of illegal immigrants, terrorists and contraband traffickers has never been an easy job. Yet it is being made worse by a combination of misguided politics and liberal advocates of limitless immigration in the media and academia.

In Washington, politicians from both sides of the aisle champion the "rights of immigrants" in exchange for national security because one party sees votes while the other sees cheap labor for corporate sponsors.

Academic pointy heads advocate American-style civil rights for people who are not yet Americans and who are going about becoming Americans in all the wrong ways.

In the press, meanwhile, liberal activists for illegal immigrants rabidly attack both sensible and illogical border-control efforts with equal enthusiasm. They dismiss any notion as right-wing hysteria that the United States government or its people have a legal and sovereign right to decide who gets into the country and who doesn't.

It all leads one to ask: When did it become unfashionable to secure our borders and protect Americans?

When government cannot do a job it is required to do, American individualism ultimately prevails and the people tend to matters themselves. Indeed, that's what's happening on our southwest border – absent Uncle Sam, folks are taking care of business their own way.

Some have even formed groups for the effort. One such group is called Ranch Rescue, and it consists of volunteer landowners, patriots and people who are just plain sick of being neglected by Uncle Sam.

Rather than wait for Washington or take cues from pointy-headed academics, they are reasserting control of borders in their own areas. They have banded together in a bid to patrol lawless expanses of the U.S.-Mexico border in search of drug and human smugglers, as well as repair land that has been overrun and nearly destroyed by the migrating hordes of votes and cheap labor.

For this gallant display of initiative, they are being attacked as though they themselves are the lawbreakers.

The Arizona Republic, in an Oct. 23 editorial, decried these volunteers as "vigilantes," and said the group was part of the problem of growing lawlessness down on the increasingly dangerous border.

In one of two recent border incidents chronicled by the editorial, "Ranch Rescue vigilantes, who dress in camouflage and carry high-powered rifles, claim to have surprised drug smugglers who were backpacking marijuana across the border. The smugglers dropped their cargo and fled …"

"The Texas-based Ranch Rescue vigilantes see themselves as the salvation of border-area ranches that have become transit routes for illegal drugs and immigrants," the editorial continued. "But the specter of private citizens taking up arms because of the belief that law enforcement cannot handle the job should chill the soul of freedom-loving, law-abiding people. Vigilantes are not trained in law enforcement, let alone civil rights. Their actions put themselves and others at risk."

"Vigilantes?" Ranch Rescue volunteers aren't taking the law into their own hands; if anything they're enforcing laws Washington should be enforcing.

"Chill the soul of freedom-loving, law-abiding people?" Actually, seeing Americans volunteer to protect homes, property and lives isn't "chilling" at all, it's a welcome relief. Since when were "freedom-loving" Americans delegated to be doormats for illegal immigrants?

And look how successful those "trained in law enforcement" have been at protecting lives, liberty, property and the sovereignty of our nation. They are outmanned and outgunned on the border, but that's only because they are over-tasked and undermined by our leaders inside the Beltway.

Viewing Americans who are simply trying to defend their way of life and our nation's sovereignty the same as illegal immigrants, terrorists and smugglers is despicable, and the Arizona Republic should apologize immediately. It's not the fault of local residents and landowners that they're being overrun, shot at and killed by illegal masses, drug runners and even, some say, Mexican troops and police. It is their fault, however, if they continue to do nothing about it.

Instead of criticizing someone for trying to reclaim our own borders, liberals in the media and academia should be praising them for defending the same American values, soil and sovereignty they enjoy.

Lord knows, somebody's got to do it. This battle sure isn't going to be won by editors of our major daily newspapers.