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Other states should step up on border plan: Calif
Sat Jun 24, 2006 6:29pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said on Saturday the White House should get other states to buy into its policy of using National Guard troops to police the Mexican border, saying California had done its share.

Schwarzenegger, a Republican who last month reluctantly agreed to send 1,000 members of the California National Guard to help with operations along the porous border, this week turned down a White House request to send an additional 1,500 troops out of state.

"Because of potential disasters here in California and wanting to ensure we are prepared, the governor would not send (more) troops out of state," a Schwarzenegger aide said.

"Other states need to send troops, and the White House needs to get more governors to buy into its proposal," said the aide who asked not to be identified.



The additional troops requested from California would have been sent to Arizona and New Mexico to meet a shortfall there, officials said. Some 300 Arizona National Guard members are expected to take up their duties along the state's border with Mexico this weekend.

Schwarzenegger's refusal underlined divisions in the Republican Party over illegal immigration and U.S. President George W. Bush's plan to station up to 6,000 National Guard troops along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border with Mexico to curb the number of illegal crossings.

The former movie star, who came to the United States from Austria and whose state is one of the most affected by illegal immigration, has called Bush's approach a "Band-Aid solution."

On Wednesday, he took the U.S. Congress to task, saying politicians were completely irresponsible for again failing to pass legislation that would address the problem.