Border Jumpers Sue Rancher

This is what you might call creative lawyering--except it's far more serious than a spilled coffee cup at a fast-food drive in.

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

According to the news account, the defendant has been responsible for turning over over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998. The plaintiffs seek $32 million in civil damages. The trial is expected to run through Friday in Arizona federal court.