http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...erprotest.html

Hundreds protest plans for Guard at border


2:55 p.m. June 3, 2006

SAN YSIDRO – Several hundred people rallied Saturday along the San Ysidro border to protest the planned placement of National Guard troops at the nation's border with Mexico, organizers said.
The protesters gathered at Larsen Park in the 400 block of Sycamore Road in San Ysidro.

Organizers, with the International Coalition for Liberty and Justice, say that placing the National Guard at the border will exacerbate already tense relations between the countries.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Saturday that up to 1,000 guardsmen would be deployed along the border by July 15.

“Our troops won't play a direct role in law enforcement activities, including apprehension or maintaining custody of detained persons,” Schwarzenegger said in his weekly radio address.

“They will assist in backup and support roles and the vast majority of our troops will not be armed,” the governor said.

“Only those in harm's way will carry a weapon,” Schwarzenegger said.

San Diego City College professor Justin Akers Chacon of San Diego City College said the deployment “doesn't actually address the root causes.”

Akers Chacon said the National Guard was not trained to deal with migrants.

“They're trained to kill,” said Akers Chacon, a Chicano Studies professor and author of the book “No One Is Illegal.”