Arizona border plan: Add National Guard, Feds pay for it
Arizona border plan: Add National Guard, have Feds pay for it
by Glen Creno and Alia Beard Rau -
Apr. 22, 2010 05:38 PM
The Arizona Republic .
Gov. Jan Brewer pledged $10 million in federal stimulus funds to beef up local law enforcement efforts along the Arizona-Mexico border, and called on President Obama to pay for deployment of 250 National Guardsmen to the area to combat illegal immigration.
Brewer said in a Thursday afternoon news conference that she had pleaded five times in letters to Obama for a federal response to help Arizona stanch the flow of illegal immigrants across its southern border by deploying additional troops here.
"Arizona is frustrated and we're going to push back," Brewer said at her news conference. "The people of Arizona have had it."
Brewer's news conference came as tensions increased over how she will act on Senate Bill 1070, a wide-ranging measure that requires local law enforcement to help combat illegal immigration. Brewer must act by sometime Saturday to either sign or veto the bill, or allow it to go into law without her signature.
Brewer was expected later Thursday to address one thousand Latino community and business leaders at the Chicanos Por La Causa annual fundraising dinner. Hundreds of protesters were expected at the event. At her news conference, Brewer said the Obama administration had "turned a blind eye" to immigration problems in Arizona and "the federal government has a responsibility to take these actions. We can no longer sit still and do nothing."
Brewer called on the president to fund 250 additional National Guardsmen for the Joint Counter Narco/Terrorism Task Force that supports federal, state and local law enforcement efforts along the border. She also asked for more federal help with covert reconnaissance programs that help detect human and drug smuggling.
Brewer said she already has asked the Arizona National Guard to create additional surveillance capabilities using existing resources, and hoped to spur an added 150 missions a year. She also asked the Guard to increase its aerial patrols and add flight hours to produce another 70-80 missions along the border through September.
Brewer said she has asked Obama to provide extra surveillance pilots and helicopters to the National Guard to assist in the border-security effort.
She pledged to meet with border law enforcement agencies next week to coordinate efforts through DPS to augment border security, and she called for more inter-agency and military training programs to be held in southern Arizona to simultaneously help control the border.
Brewer said she has encouraged DPS to work more closely with federal agencies on border security.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... -plan.html
Arizona gov. calls for more border protection
Arizona gov. calls for more border protection
By PAUL DAVENPORT and JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press Writers
Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 6:38 p.m.
PHOENIX— Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer again called for more troops along the state's border with Mexico on Thursday, two days before a deadline for her to approve or strike down the nation's toughest legislation on illegal immigration.
The Republican governor ordered a reallocation of state National Guard and law enforcement resources and called on the federal government to deploy National Guard troops as hundreds of Hispanics protested the bill at the State Capitol complex.
"The responsibility to ensure that we have an orderly, secure border - not just some imaginary line or a rickety fence - belongs to the federal government, and they have failed," Brewer said, adding that she has asked five times for President Barack Obama to deploy troops.
Part of the plan requires approval from the federal government, including funding for an additional 250 National Guard troops to support anti-drug measures on the border. Brewer said the price tag is too high for the cash-strapped state to cover.
Brewer's border security plan follows others released by Arizona politicians over the past two weeks in the wake of the death last month of a rancher on his property in southeastern Arizona. Authorities believe he was killed by an illegal border crosser.
The death came weeks before the state's GOP-led Legislature passed the sweeping illegal immigration bill that would, among other provisions, require police to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally. It also would make it a crime for illegal immigrants to not have alien registration documents and for residents to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.
Brewer declined Thursday evening to say what she'd do with the bill but told a dinner meeting of an Hispanic group that she heard and understood concerns about the bill, which the group's chairwoman had condemned minutes earlier as "a hateful piece of legislation."
"I can tell you that what I decide will be based on what's right for Arizona," Brewer said.
Members of the audience attending the Chicanos Por La Causa Inc. dinner called out "veto" as Brewer left the hotel ballroom.
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon spoke after Brewer, calling for a veto and saying the bill was giving Arizona a black eye.
Earlier, Phoenix high school students ditched class Thursday to demand that she veto the crackdown. Protesters came from as far away as Los Angeles.
"This is not a Latino fight. This a fight against hate," said Daniel Rodriguez, an Arizona State University graduate from Phoenix, who spoke at the protest.
High school sophomore Citlalli Reyes said she feared police would engage in racial profiling if the bill becomes law.
"They're trying too hard to get rid of us," the 16-year-old Phoenix resident said.
Supporters of the law deny it will spur racial profiling. They contend its provisions will help drive illegal immigrants from the state, allowing the taxpayers to save money on services and reducing crime.
Arizona, which has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants and is the nation's busiest border crossing point, has previously passed a variety of get-tough measures dealing with illegal immigration.
New attention was focused on the issues of illegal immigration and border security by the March 27 shooting death of Douglas-area rancher Rob Krentz.
Brewer, who faces a contested Aug. 24 Republican primary, is among numerous officeholders and candidates who have toured the border since Krentz's death. One of Brewer's primary election opponents, State Treasurer Dean Martin, called on her to sign the legislation.
"This bill was introduced many months ago, any additional delay is unacceptable. Failure to act exposes Arizona law enforcement officers, citizens, and their property to further harm," Martin said.
Christian and Jewish clergy called on Brewer to veto the bill, saying its implementation would create distrust between residents and the police.
Day laborers "are not criminals," said the Rev. Gerald Kicanas, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson. "These are human beings who want to provide for their families and contribute to our society."
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Check out the great border fence pictures @
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... rotection/
