Thread: 524 Guard soldiers headed to Arizona-Mexico border

524 Guard soldiers headed to Arizona-Mexico border

Posted 2 m ago

PHOENIX (AP) — Federal officials told Arizona's attorney general and a congresswoman on Monday that 524 of the 1,200 National Guard troops headed to the U.S. Mexican border will be deployed in the state by August or September.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Attorney General Terry Goddard, both Democrats, met with Obama administration officials in Tucson along with dozens of law enforcement officials and community leaders. The federal officials included John Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said the 524 troops are now being trained for deployment in August, and Goddard said two drone aircraft also will be used in Arizona. Goddard says the commitment is a first step.

Brennan, Goddard said, has the job of evaluating "the whole picture. He never said this is all. He said this is what we're going to do right now."

The federal officials, sent by President Barack Obama, were to meet later Monday with Gov. Jan Brewer in her office in Phoenix. The meeting resulted from Brewer's June 3 visit to the White House where she and Obama discussed border security and immigration. Brewer asked for specifics on how the plans apply to Arizona.

The president previously announced that he plans to send 1,200 troops to the border, and he asked Congress for $600 million to pay for 1,000 more Border Patrol agents, 160 new federal immigration officers and two unmanned aircraft.

Arizona in the U.S. state with the most illegal border-crossings.

Brewer had called on Obama to deploy the National Guard to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers across the border, and she reacted to Obama's initial announcement by saying 1,200 Guard personnel wouldn't be enough. She also urged Obama to send National Guard helicopters and surveillance drones to the border to help tight.

The meetings follow months of heated debate over illegal immigration sparked by the passage of a new Arizona law on April 23. The law generally requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there's a "reasonable suspicion" they're in the country illegally.

The meetings were taking place as Arizona officials awaited word on a widely anticipated federal legal challenge to the measure. Obama has called the law "misguided." Brewer has said its enactment was necessary because of federal inaction on border enforcement.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/201 ... xico_N.htm

Why even bother

They need 10 times that many just for Arizona

Originally Posted by Justthefacts

Why even bother

They need 10 times that many just for Arizona

That would only be 5000. I would like to see 500,000. But hey, it is a baby step in the right direction.

Well, 524 will be enough to change lightbulbs, take out the garbage, and type memos. The article did not say that Gov. Brewer was part of this meeting. Perhaps I overlooked it?

524 Guard soldiers headed to Arizona-Mexico border
By PAUL DAVENPORT and BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press Writers © 2010 The Associated Press
June 28, 2010, 7:01PM

PHOENIX — Federal officials told Arizona's attorney general and a congresswoman Monday that 524 of the 1,200 National Guard troops headed to the U.S.-Mexico border will be deployed in the state by August or September.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Attorney General Terry Goddard, both Democrats, met with Obama administration officials in Tucson along with dozens of law enforcement officials and community leaders. The federal officials included John Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said the 524 troops are being trained for deployment in August, and Goddard said two drone aircraft also will be used in Arizona. Goddard called the commitment a first step.

Another 224 troops will head to California, 72 to New Mexico and 250 to Texas. A national liaison office will draw another 130.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, wasn't happy, saying "only about 20 percent of these personnel will end up in Texas, which has 64 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border."

Perry had asked in January 2009 for 1,000 National Guard troops to help with border security in Texas alone.

"This latest effort is insufficient to meet the needs of securing the Texas-Mexico border. Texas will continue to urge the federal government to provide the necessary resources so the brave men and women of the Border Patrol can effectively do their jobs and protect our border communities, and the entire nation, from those who would do us harm," he said.

The Arizona troops will be assigned to entry identification teams and deployed between ports of entry to help the Border Patrol spot illegal border crossers.

Brennan, Goddard said, has the job of evaluating "the whole picture. He never said this is all. He said this is what we're going to do right now."

The federal officials, sent by President Barack Obama, were to meet later Monday with Gov. Jan Brewer in her Phoenix office. The ,eeting resulted from Brewer's June 3 visit to the White House, where she and Obama discussed border security and immigration. Brewer asked for specifics on how the plans apply to Arizona.

The president previously announced plans to send 1,200 troops to the border, and he asked Congress for $600 million to pay for 1,000 more Border Patrol agents, 160 new federal immigration officers and two unmanned aircraft.

Brewer said after the June 3 meeting that Obama had assured her that the majority of the 1,200 troops would go to Arizona, the state with the most illegal border-crossings.

Brewer had sought the soldiers to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers across the border, and she reacted to Obama's initial announcement by saying 1,200 Guard personnel wouldn't be enough. She also urged Obama to send National Guard helicopters and surveillance drones to the border.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, whose county abuts on the border, called the federal effort "long overdue."

"We've never had the attention, and we've never had the response or resources along the border that we have had recently," Estrada said after the Tucson meeting. "And once we have the right match, the right combination, I think we'll be able to claim some victories. It's not going to stop, the border will never be sealed. It will be safer, maybe more secure, but it will always be active."

The meetings follow months of heated debate over illegal immigration sparked by the passage of a new Arizona law in April. The law generally requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there's a "reasonable suspicion" they're in the country illegally.

The meetings were held as Arizona officials awaited word on a widely anticipated federal legal challenge to the measure. Obama has called the law "misguided." Brewer has called its enactment necessary due to federal inaction on border enforcement.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/ ... 85108.html

Texas has 1250 miles of border between Mexico so that come out to 1 national guardsman per 5 miles. GREAT NEWS.

They cannot send the best troops.

My son gets his honorable on the 2nd of July, BECAUSE he fly's drones.

Go figure why the military would not keep him>

He was an XBOX 360 international CHAMPION, and was sponsered by MR. Gates himself in 2005 as well as his WHOLE team from Toronto, Canada.

And the riot in Canada shows what will happen here next.

Originally Posted by bigtex

Texas has 1250 miles of border between Mexico so that come out to 1 national guardsman per 5 miles. GREAT NEWS.

You forgot to divide by 3 to account for 8 hr shifts. 1 per 15 miles.

this is not even making sense.
that is not even 2 per mile. taking in 8 hour shifts your talking about 1 every six miles in Arizona unless the thinking is you put them on the SE part of the state where the rancher was killed

Brewer better scream bloody murder, what a bunch of expected no surprise donkey show this is.
I want Obama Impeached