Bush Set To Send Guard to Border
Assignment Would Be Temporary; Critics Cite Strain on Troops

WASHINGTON (By Peter Baker, Washington Post) May 15, 2006 — President Bush will order fewer than 10,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to support Border Patrol agents in stopping illegal immigration, a senior administration official said Monday.

Bush will outline his plan in a televised speech to the nation at 8 p.m. ET Monday, the official said.

The troops -- about 3 percent of all National Guard units -- will not be involved in apprehending illegal immigrants, the official said.

Currently there are about 350 troops on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The president's speech comes as conservative Republicans -- many of whom are running in midterm elections -- support new legislation aimed at increasing punishment for people who enter the United States illegally. The issue also has prompted nationwide protests by hundreds of thousands of immigration supporters over the past weeks.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Monday that the move does not represent "a militarization of the borders," The Associated Press reported.

Appearing on CBS' "The Early Show," Bartlett said Guard forces sent to the area "will not have law enforcement responsibilities or powers. They will be there in a supportive role. ... It's about a constitutional responsibility to enforce our borders," the AP reported.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nevada, expressed concern Monday about overburdening National Guard units, including those that may have served overseas.

"I'm personally glad the president is now engaged in the dispute as it relates to our borders and immigration generally," Reid said. "... The troops really are ... beleaguered, they're overworked, and we have to make sure that they have the ability to do this."

The National Guard mission to the war in Iraq is declining. A year ago, more than 50,000 National Guard troops were serving in Iraq, while today about 23,000 remain.

While backing up the federal border patrols, the military would remain largely out of sight, according to National Guard sources.

The troops will be under the control of the four border states -- Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California -- although the federal government will foot the bill for their deployment.

National Guard planners are talking to the governors from each of the four states to reach separate agreements, according to National Guard sources.

Mexican President Vicente Fox said in a written statement Sunday that he has told Bush that he's worried about a U.S. move to "militarize" the roughly 2,000-mile border, one of the longest unfortified frontiers in the world.

The proposal has drawn criticism from members of both major U.S. parties, with one key Republican senator saying Sunday he has "a lot of questions" about the idea.

But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist dismissed the concerns, saying the use of National Guard troops is the only short-term solution to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.

"The only thing that we can do to secure our borders right now is to give our states help, and that is best done through the National Guard," the Tennessee Republican told CNN's "Late Edition."

He said, "Everything else we've done has failed. We've got to face that."

Bush has discussed the "stopgap" proposal to bolster border security with National Guard troops, along with "a lot of [other] ideas," with members of Congress, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told CNN.

Hadley stressed that it "is not a new" idea.

Under the plan, Pentagon sources have said the federal government will foot the bill for activating several thousand additional National Guard troops to augment security along the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Key Republican skeptical

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, reacted cautiously to the proposal.

"I think we have to be very careful here," Hagel said on ABC's "This Week." "That's not the role of our National Guard."

Hagel, a sponsor of compromise immigration legislation before the Senate, said the U.S. military is already stretched "as thin as we've ever seen it in modern times."

Active-duty U.S. troops are barred from domestic law enforcement by a Reconstruction-era law known as Posse Comitatus, but National Guard troops under state control can perform some law enforcement functions.

Frist restated his confidence that an immigration bill proposal will be completed before Memorial Day, May 29.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, told ABC, "I think it's more likely than not" that it will be law by the November midterm elections.

Leaders push 'comprehensive' bill

In Sunday's half-hour telephone call, Fox's office said Bush told him "what was being analyzed was the administrative and logistical support by the National Guard, not by the Army, to police the border."

White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri said Bush told Fox that what his administration is considering "is not a militarization of the border but support of Border Patrol capabilities on a temporary basis by National Guard personnel."

The statement from Fox's office said both leaders agreed that solving the issue of border control is a joint responsibility that can be resolved "only through integral and comprehensive reform."

Bush has stressed that "comprehensive" immigration legislation would include a temporary guest-worker program, and the National Guard proposal could help win over some in his party who favor more enforcement.