4um: Border governors worried about National Guard pullout

Border governors worried about National Guard pullout By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 20, 3:01 PM ET

McALLEN, Texas - The thousands of National Guardsmen sent to reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border two years ago have almost completely withdrawn, despite pleas from border-state governors once skeptical of using soldiers to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

When the Guard was posted along the southern frontier in 2006 to help the strapped Border Patrol, critics warned that sending soldiers would be an insult to Mexico and that innocents could get shot by troops trained for combat, not law enforcement.

But none of that happened, and now those worries have given way to fears that a bloody drug-cartel war on the Mexican side will spill into the U.S. and overwhelm the Border Patrol.

The four border-state governors who contributed the bulk of the troops have tried in vain to persuade Congress and the White House to extend the Guard's presence, which will end as scheduled on July 15.

"Until Border Patrol has all its new boots on the ground, there's going to be a vulnerability," said Pahl Shipley, spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

The Border Patrol said the National Guard force, which reached a peak of 6,000 before diminishing last year, bought it enough time to hire and train more agents. The patrol expressed confidence that it can hold the line on its own.

"We're fine taking over. It's all part of our plan," said Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling.

Only a few hundred Guardsmen are left on the border, most of them finishing up construction projects in Arizona and New Mexico.

The Guardsmen were sent in a support role, not to seize illegal immigrants and smugglers. They used helicopters and night-vision gear to watch for people trying to slip across the border, then told Border Patrol agents where to find them. They also built roads and fences.

The Border Patrol's ranks have swelled by nearly 5,000 since the beginning of Operation Jump Start, reaching more than 16,400. But the Border Patrol is still short of the 18,000-agent goal set for the end of the year. And border-state officials note those numbers include new hires who are not necessarily in place along the border yet.

Also, drug violence is surging in Mexican border areas, and "we certainly don't want that to spill across the border," Shipley said.

In late April, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano joined Richardson in signing a letter to Capitol Hill leaders begging them to extend the National Guard's presence.

Armed Mexicans Attack Unarmed National Guard Troops on US Soil

Submitted by MichaelVail on Sat, 01/06/2007 - 7:13pm.

Minutemen comment on shooting on the border

Web commentary
Posted: Jan 6, 2007

In a story that should have rang alarm bells in very newsroom across the nation, armed Mexican entered the United States and attacked unarmed National Guard troops working at a border patrol post near the US-Mexican border. The troops had to retreat to safety.

Not surprisingly, the news story received scant coverage by the mainstream news media and hardly a mention on the Fox News Channel. It's a story that should outrage all Americans including President George W. Bush.

Unfortunately, President Bush and his Administration did not even comment on this vicious attack on unarmed US troops as well as the unbridled assault on American sovereignty. During a press conference held on Friday afternoon by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, there was not one word about this unprovoked attack on soldiers.

According to syndicated columnist and journalist Sher Zieve, the attack was initiated by several Mexican nations at about 1:00 AM (et) Thursday morning at one of the National Guard entrance identification team posts near Sasabe. The troops retreated to safety. According to KVOA TV News reports in Tucson, AZ, no shots were fired and no one suffered injuries.

The US Border Patrol is conducting an investigation into the attack. Investigators are attempting to determine who the armed men were, what they were doing and why they approached the post before returning to Mexico.

A Border Patrol agent, who requested anonymity, says that the well-armed intruders were drug traffickers who are fully aware US National Guard troops are prohibited from carrying any type of weapon and have been ordered not to confront lawbreakers coming across the border. The Guard troops are not allowed to apprehend illegal entrants, as well.

"Basically, the National Guard troops are doing what private groups such as the Minuteman Project have done at US borders -- observe and report," said a Homeland Security Department official.

What he failed to mention is that the Minutemen didn't cost taxpayers millions of dollars to just stand at the border unarmed and act as the eyes and ears of the already stretched-thin Border patrol agents.

"We don't know if this was a matter of somebody coming up accidentally on the individuals, coming up intentionally on the individuals, or some sort of a diversion," Rob Daniels, spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector told KVOA News.

The west desert corridor has been the busiest in the Tucson Sector for marijuana seizures since last year. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agents have seized 124,000 pounds of marijuana there since October 1, 2006.

With more Border Patrol agents and National Guard troops patrolling the Arizona section of the U.S.-Mexican border, it has become more difficult to smuggle drugs and people across may have caused drug and human smugglers to become more aggressive.

Since arriving in mid-June, the Guard has assisted the Border Patrol by manning control rooms, doing vehicle and helicopter maintenance, repairing roads and fences, constructing vehicle barriers and fences and spotting and reporting illegal entrants in entrance identification teams.

There are dozens of National Guard entrance identification teams along the Mexican border, including east and west of both Nogales and Sasabe and on the Tohono O'odham Nation. All of the teams are unarmed.

"This is one of the most expensive dog-and-pony shows dreamed up by the Washington establishment in recent history. Imagine using trained troops on the US border unarmed and prohibited from taking action. It's a scam," says Mike Baker, a political analyst.

Jim Kouri, CPP
Columnist Jim Kouri, National Association of Chiefs of Police Vice President