Posted on Mon, May. 31, 2010 10:15 PM
Border troops to protect D.C. jobs

President Barack Obama’s decision to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border has mystified friends and foes alike.

We think the move is a diversionary tactic — done more for show than anything — that will do little to help secure the border and could even hurt his chance to usher in meaningful immigration reform.

Reacting to the noise surrounding the Arizona immigration law and a legislative effort by Sen. John McCain to send 6,000 troops to the border, the president announced he would send 1,200 troops to patrol for drug smugglers.

We find the move nakedly political, and not unlike the stunt President George W. Bush pulled four years ago. Bush was further along in an effort to pass meaningful comprehensive immigration reform and needed to appease conservatives who were balking, so he sent 6,000 troops to the border.

President Obama has insisted countless times that the same old tired strategies of the prior administration ought to be upended.

So why is he following them again?

The Denver Post

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