September 11, 2001: Her world was turned upside down; an awakening as the United States was changed forever.  An attack on the United States was/is a startling realization for an immigrant who came to America in 1976 as a wife of an American soldier for reasons similar to millions of others – freedom, safety and the pursuit of happiness.
 

Carmen Mercer is a legal immigrant from Germany; a proud citizen of the United States of America since July 3rd, 1999.  Carmen takes her citizenship seriously; her first step after becoming a citizen was to register to vote. Carmen is quoting as saying, “Voting is a privilege I did not have during those years as a resident in the States with a green card.  It is powerful to know that each and every citizen has an opinion and can impact positive change for the country.”
 

Impacting change was never just a cliché for Carmen; she is the embodiment of tenacity and strength. For the last 14 years, Carmen has owned and operated a restaurant in Tombstone, Arizona; she is also a very astute activist and voice for border safety and security in Washington, D.C.  While living and working on the front lines of the border challenges, Carmen was drawn into action to affect a solution to the border security issue by educating herself, and the community at large on the issues of human and sex trafficking of minors/adults that occur along our border often resulting in environmental destruction.
 

To that end, in October 2001, she helped form a neighborhood watch group to answer the President’s call to action after 9-11.  Carmen recalls the moment she heard the President of the United States say on national television the day after the 9-11 attack, “be vigilant and to report ANY suspicious activity.”
 

Some just listened to the president; others took action – Carmen Mercer took action.
 

Over the last seven years, Carmen has diligently kept the pressure on all branches of government and responsible agencies to secure the border for national security and public safety of HER American people. She also became a featured spokesperson for the MCDC (Minuteman Civil Defense Corp) PAC and the Minuteman PAC, committed to help elect candidates in the United States Congress and Senate who are very serious about protecting our borders. 
 

Most notably, Carmen has been a guest on many radio talk shows; she calls them, “unedited version of an interview.”  In addition, she has frequented national and international television, including “Good Morning, America,” “Fox and Friends” and “C-Span.”  She enjoys sharing her knowledge on border issues with the community at large and is a polished public speaker.
Carmen states, “when the Granny Brigade was integrated into the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, I realized that although securing the border was the utmost goal, many more issues needed dealing with immediately.”  As a child growing up in Germany, she was raised in an international environment where her friends hailed from Turkey, Italy, Spain and Greece.  None of them were abused crossing a border; none of them had to endure possible death while immigrating; and, none of them walked across a border putting having (should not be there?) their lives in peril.
 

During her many nights on the border as a “border watch guard,” Carmen Mercer began to realize that illegal immigration posed many threats to the safety of those crossing the border and to the American people.  The thought of children being sold into sex slavery and sex trafficking is an unthinkable; however, solvable problems…she continues her crusade to stop such travesties through her ongoing local, national and international efforts.
 

As the Founder and President of the Minuteman Foundation, Carmen Mercer is able to extend her advocacy into the arenas of public education by fostering the knowledge to both Latin Americans and United States citizens on the critical importance and prevention of human and sex trafficking of minors/adults that occur along our border and the resulting environmental destruction.
If you happen to be in Tombstone, Arizona, you can find Carmen Mercer at the “O.K. Café” where she will offer you the best Wyoming Buffalo Burger and cool beverage, point you in the direction of the O.K. Corral, and if you are willing to sit awhile, Carmen will engage you in thoughtful conversation on why she loves this country.  

It is, by her own admission, “the land of the free, home of the brave, and known to extend a hand to those who reach its shores with legal entry.”
Carmen is an American hero; and an immigrant with not only a story, but with pride and conviction.