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The Governor of Arizona is deploying their National Guard to the Border. http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/40467.html


11:22 am: Arizona governor sending more troops to border to aid immigration efforts
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By PAUL DAVENPORT | Associated Press
March 8, 2006
PHOENIX (AP) - Gov. Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that she signed an executive order to expand the Arizona National Guard's presence at the state's porous border with Mexico to support federal efforts to combat illegal immigration and other border problems.

The Democratic governor also said she would veto a bill in the Republican-led Legislature requiring her to send troops to the border, but wants lawmakers to pass a proposal to pay for the expanded National Guard role.

She said the Legislature's pending bill _ retroactively requiring the governor to deploy additional troops along the border once an immigration emergency was declared _ would be an unconstitutional infringement on her powers as commander in chief of the Arizona National Guard. Last summer, Napolitano had issued such a declaration in four border counties.

Napolitano has previously said that she wants to beef up the guard's presence, but was waiting for federal funding.

Napolitano on Wednesday also said the proposed legislative mandate appeared to be an attempt by critics to score "political points."

She said the order authorizes $500,000 (?419,710) for initial funding for the additional deployment but referred questions about the number of troops and longer-term funding to the National Guard and declined to elaborate on the mission the troops would perform.

She said that was spelled out in the order, which wasn't immediately available.

Napolitano stressed that the National Guard's role would be limited to supporting the federal efforts.

"They are not there to militarize the border," she said. "We are not at war with Mexico."

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