Alan Keyes's speech Wednesday in Provo was billed as a voter education event on immigration, but the people there appeared to have already made up their minds -- they were mad as hell and they weren't going to take it anymore.

The former ambassador and presidential candidate topped off a night of immigration speeches that revolved around a central theme: There's a crop of current officeholders who have to go.

Two candidates for Utah's 3rd Congressional District -- Republican John Jacob and the Constitution Party's Jim Noorlander -- were well received, and a spokeswoman for the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps urged people to vote for change in Congress.

But Keyes was the big draw, and he accused national leaders -- even President George Bush -- of putting the acquisition of power and narrow economic interests above "defending the institutions of liberty."

If that's the case, he said, "it is time to let them go."

"The situation is so far out of control, we don't even know how far it is out of control," Keyes said, citing the wildly disparate estimates of how many people are in the country illegally. "If you don't control who comes across the border, your laws and regulations don't mean anything.

"We have the right to defend our borders and not ask Mexico for its permission. ... You cannot have freedom in principle if you don't defend it in fact."

Keyes served as a diplomat under former President Ronald Reagan and ran for president as a Republican in 1996 and 2000.

The anti-establishment mood was set early in the evening when the moderator, Matt Throckmorton, who ran against U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon two years ago, announced that Jacob and Noorlander were present but that Cannon, the incumbent, wasn't able to attend.

That announcement that was greeted with laughter and jeers from the audience.

Cannon, R-Utah, is in Washington, D.C.

Cannon and Jacob are competing for the GOP nomination in the race, and party voters will choose between them during Tuesday's primary. Immigration has been the main issue debated in the race, with Cannon taking fire because of his support for a guest worker program or some other method of dealing with people already in the country illegally.

The evening started with a screening of the documentary "Cochise County: Cries from the Border," which examines how illegal immigration is affecting people and communities in the southeast corner of Arizona.

Copies of the movie were being sold to raise money for the Minutemen political action committee, which helped sponsor the event in the Provo City Library. More than 100 people attended.

Group spokeswoman Carmen Mercer explained how the Minutemen formed in order to help police the U.S.-Mexico border. Her hometown of Tombstone, Ariz., has 1,400 people and no traffic lights, she said, "but we have a lot of illegal traffic."

Like the other speakers, she criticized any immigration proposal that doesn't focus tightly on border security.

"If you don't want to secure the border for yourself, do it for your children. Do it for your grandchildren," she said.

Mercer also singled out Jacob and said he was focused on the right issues.

"I think it's time for a change," Mercer said to enthusiastic applause. "The proof is in the pudding."

Alan Choate can be reached at 344-2556.