Gilchrist's decision to invite Clinton was likely prompted by her tough comments on border security - remarks that place her sharply to the right of the Bush administration on the issue.

"I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants," she announced in Feb. 2003 radio interview, adding that "people have to stop employing illegal immigrants."

"I mean, come up to Westchester, go to Suffolk and Nassau counties," Clinton railed. "Stand on the street corners in Brooklyn or the Bronx; you're going to see loads of people waiting to get picked up to go do yard work and construction work and domestic work."

"Clearly, we have to make some tough decisions as a country," the top Democrat urged.

In comments last November, the likely 2008 presidential nominee blasted the Bush administration for turning a blind eye to the problems at the border.

"I don't think that we have protected our borders or our ports or provided our first responders with the resources they need, so we can do more and we can do better," Clinton told the Fox News Channel. "There's technology now available," she noted. "There are some advanced radar systems. There are biometric and other kinds of identification systems that we've been very slow to deploy and unwilling to spend money on."

Gilchrist said his patrol operation is open to Clinton and anyone else who wants to review its progress, explaining, "When I first launched this in October I insisted that we have open season for all law enforcement to come in and do whatever they want - and the same with the media."

And he pointed out the obvious political benefit for any politician who wants to lend support, noting, "For every [Minuteman] down here we've probably got a hundred thousand supporters across the country."

Gilchrist said the Minutemen have already helped round up scores of illegals.

"About 300," he told Hannity. "And about 40 of those were from an aerial observer who was up six hours yesterday in his aircraft."

Editor's note: