As I read this I'm thinking...isin't this the same bunch that are sueing us for the 1070 plan?HLC

Additional agents, drones will head to Arizona border
Number for Tucson Sector is uncertain
by Erin Kelly - Jun. 24, 2010 12:00 AM
Gannett Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that she will deploy additional Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators and aircraft to the Arizona border for targeted operations against Mexican drug cartels.

But Department of Homeland Security officials could not say exactly how many agents will be sent to the Tucson Sector.

Napolitano's announcement of Arizona efforts was part of a list of initiatives intended to beef up security along the southwestern border.

The White House is seeking $600 million in emergency funding for the initiatives, including $297 million to hire 1,000 new Border Patrol agents. Homeland Security officials said the agents will be divided among the southwestern states.

The request also calls for $52.5 million for 160 new ICE agents and $37 million for two new Predator drones to patrol the border.

President Barack Obama has already called for the deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the border at a cost of $135 million from existing Homeland Security funds.

Napolitano, who served as Arizona's governor before joining the Obama administration, said the Tucson Sector needs additional help because it has become the favored corridor of drug smugglers after security was tightened along the California and Texas borders.

"We need to close off Tucson," Napolitano said when she unveiled the border initiatives at a meeting of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-profit research group.

She said the Obama administration has already taken unprecedented steps to beef up border security, but the latest measures show it is ready to do more. The department has been under pressure from Southwestern lawmakers to go further.

"No one is happy with the status quo," Napolitano said. "I'm certainly not, and neither is President Obama."

Napolitano also announced other measures in which Homeland Security is:

• Forging a partnership with the Major Cities Chiefs Association that would allow non-border state and local law-enforcement agencies to send officers to help agencies along the southwestern border.

• Working with the Department of Justice to create a system that will fully link federal databases with the systems of all state, local and tribal law-enforcement agencies operating along the border.

• Working with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to implement a license-plate reader recognition system called Project Roadrunner, to target drug traffickers.

Napolitano's announcements came in the wake of recent allegations by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., that Obama told him the administration would not strengthen border security until Congress passed comprehensive immigration reform. The White House vehemently denied the president made such comments.

"Naturally, we welcome all efforts to deal with illegal immigration, but I find it curious that it's been almost a month since President Obama announced his deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops, yet not a single Guardsman has been deployed," Kyl said Wednesday.

"I find it also curious that the administration is announcing its intent to work with state and local law enforcement, while at the same time suing Arizona over its effort to enforce immigration laws."

The Justice Department is considering filing a legal challenge to block implementation of Arizona's tougher immigration-enforcement law, which takes effect July 29.

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., welcomed Napolitano's announcement.

"After so many years of Washington ignoring Arizona's warnings about the unsecured border, it is clear that our message is starting to get through," Kirkpatrick said. "In particular, the plan's focus on putting increased manpower, aerial systems and technology in action in Arizona is a victory for the state."

McCain called the measures "a good start" but said "they represent only a fraction of what is needed to secure the border."

McCain and Kyl have called for the deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops, including 3,000 on the Arizona border alone.


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