National Guard to head to border states Aug. 1 1,200 troops in Southwest to crack down on drugs, illegal immigrants

[hayoob 0]

WASHINGTON — National Guard troops will head to the U.S.-Mexican border Aug. 1 for a yearlong deployment to keep a lookout for illegal border crossers and smugglers and help in criminal investigations, federal officials said Monday.

The troops will be armed but can use their weapons only to protect themselves, Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told a Pentagon news conference. The troops will undergo initial training and be fully deployed along the nearly 2,000-mile southern border by September.

The announcement provides details on how the government will implement President Barack Obama's May decision to bolster border security and comes as drug-related violence has escalated in Mexico, where several people died over the weekend in a car bombing and in a separate massacre at a private party. It also comes as the U.S. debate over illegal immigration has intensified in an election year.

"The border is more secure and more resourced than it has ever been, but there is more to be done," said Alan Bersin, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, part of the Homeland Security Department.

The 1,200 troops will be distributed among four border states, with Arizona getting 524; Texas, 250; California, 224 and New Mexico, 72. Another 130 would be assigned to a national liaison office.

Bersin also said the Homeland Security Department will provide six more aircraft, including helicopters, to the border effort. He said at least 300 Customs and Border Protection agents and inspection officers would be sent to the Tucson, Arizona, area, along with mobile surveillance vans and additional technology.

"It will help," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, a Democrat, said Monday in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he was attending the annual meeting of the Conference of Western Attorneys General. "Manpower clearly has been deficient. Technology has been somewhat deficient, and they're bolstering that."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, said the deployment is not enough "nor tied to a strategy to comprehensively defeat the increasingly violent drug- and alien-smuggling cartels that operate in Arizona on a daily basis."

U.S. Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Gabrielle Giffords, both Arizona Democrats, separately called the announced actions welcome but insufficient.

"This is the kind of action we want from the administration, not suing the state," Kirkpatrick said, referring to the Department of Justice's challenge to the new Arizona immigration enforcement law. "However, we should continue to move forward with a much larger commitment of National Guard troops right away and with an expansion of the Border Patrol to strengthen security for the long run."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also criticized the troops as "grossly insufficient" for the Texas border in a letter to the administration last week.

President George W. Bush deployed 6,000 National Guard troops to the border in June 2006, also a midterm election year. The troops were part of his effort to persuade the Republican-led Congress to pass his immigration reform proposals that included a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The troops' deployment ended in July 2008.

McKinley said even though the four border states are contributing 54,000 troops to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they still have a sizable number available for other deployments or disaster response. More can be deployed at state cost if governors wish, but the 1,200 are being paid for by the federal government, he said.

"Right now I cannot see a case where we would be overextending the National Guard for this effort," he said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement also is reinforcing its presence in Arizona, said John Morton, the Homeland Security Department assistant secretary overseeing the agency.

Morton said ICE is opening a new office in Ajo, Arizona, to focus exclusively on cross-border crime and to deploy a specialized investigative team in Douglas.

Also, the agency will send ICE lawyers to U.S. attorneys offices to help prosecute felons who illegally re-enter the country after deportation. It also will increase the number of ICE agents in Mexico to 40, making it the largest of ICE's 63 offices in 44 countries.

"We are placing a particular emphasis on the Tucson sector in Arizona, an area favored by smugglers and the principal point of illegal entry into the United States along the southwest border," Morton said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38310914/ns/us_news-security/

[peejay 327]

I'll take a wait and see attitude. Sure, it's better than nothing, but is this just a publicity stunt or is the government going to do whatever is necessary up to and including sending more troops to really secure the border? If we needed troops in 2006 and we need them now, why were they pulled from 2008 to 2010? What has changed except that Obama was in office and the situation has gotten worst? That is why I am skeptical. This is not what his LaRaza and MALDEF buddies want and he would not be doing this unless he can proclaim the border is secure so he can sell amnesty of his and their illegal aliens (undocumented Democrats).

Edited July 20, 2010 by peejay

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Typical token Obama!

[Pooky 3,787]

1,200 National Guardsmen?

12,000 wouldn't be enough.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

1,200 National Guardsmen?

12,000 wouldn't be enough.

1,200 with 1,200,000 rounds of ammo and orders to shoot anyone who crosses the border and even attempts to evade the troops (as foreign invaders) would make a big dent in the problem.

[HAL 9000 96]

I wonder where we can assign the VJ Minutemen to do their part in this problem.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

I wonder where we can assign the VJ Minutemen to do their part in this problem.

maybe keeping an eye on the vj 5th columnists at the water station

[HAL 9000 96]

maybe keeping an eye on the vj 5th columnists at the water station

That would be pretty pathetic then.

All they need to do is bring their bp meds. They may not have pitched in for the water cooler, but I'm sure those 5th columnists wouldn't mind giving them some water to help the pills go down.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I'll take a wait and see attitude. Sure, it's better than nothing, but is this just a publicity stunt or is the government going to do whatever is necessary up to and including sending more troops to really secure the border? If we needed troops in 2006 and we need them now, why were they pulled from 2008 to 2010? What has changed except that Obama was in office and the situation has gotten worst? That is why I am skeptical. This is not what his LaRaza and MALDEF buddies want and he would not be doing this unless he can proclaim the border is secure so he can sell amnesty of his and their illegal aliens (undocumented Democrats).

Obama is friends with LaRaza?

Lets be serious here peejay and cut the blatantly bullsh!t hyperbole.

That being said, this really is a "gesture" and not a real attempt. The guards aren't allowed to shoot unless they are protecting themselves. This is really toothless.

Typical token Obama!

The more you post, the more you validate the opinion that people have of you. Don't you have some windows to lick and bottles to sort?

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

That would be pretty pathetic then.

All they need to do is bring their bp meds. They may not have pitched in for the water cooler, but I'm sure those 5th columnists wouldn't mind giving them some water to help the pills go down.

they'll just bring fox news and speakers, that will help disrupt the water crew.

[HAL 9000 96]

they'll just bring fox news and speakers, that will help disrupt the water crew.

You seriously want everyone to really hear bad journalism?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I wonder where we can assign the VJ Minutemen to do their part in this problem.

Maybe you could head on down and give piggy back rides.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Maybe you could head on down and give piggy back rides.

That doesn't even make sense marc. And you wonder why people insult your intelligence.

Edited July 20, 2010 by Rob & Mel

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Obama is friends with LaRaza?

Lets be serious here peejay and cut the blatantly bullsh!t hyperbole.

That being said, this really is a "gesture" and not a real attempt. The guards aren't allowed to shoot unless they are protecting themselves. This is really toothless.

The more you post, the more you validate the opinion that people have of you. Don't you have some windows to lick and bottles to sort?

Theyve allbeen cleaned .............. THANKS!

[Captain Oates 911]

Wow all those National guards wandering around with those valuable automatic weapons

They are worth ambushing.

I wonder what the terms of engagement are ? If one of the group fires, can the National Guard kill all the families in that group ? Can they use flame throwers and phosphorus grenades ? Napalm ? Cluster bombs ?

The troops in Afghanistan are asking for those terms so praps it could be trialled at the Mexico border ...

If the immigrants knew the true nature of many in the US, they would rethink their desire to become part of American society I am sure.

They should read the OT threads in VJ before they decide to set off.