Thread: Schwarzenegger OKs Guard duty on border

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ne ... ald_nation

Posted on Fri, Jun. 02, 2006

IMMIGRATION

Schwarzenegger OKs Guard duty on border

California agreed to contribute about 1,000 guardsmen for duty on the Mexican border, and the federal government will pick up the cost.
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed Thursday to send the California National Guard to the Mexican border, ending a 17-day standoff with the Bush administration over state participation in the costly and politically sensitive immigration control effort, a Schwarzenegger spokesman said.

The two sides had been at odds over whether California Guardsmen would join the effort to bolster the Border Patrol and who would pay for it.

They reached an agreement under which California will contribute about 1,000 Guardsmen for border duty, and the federal government will pick up the full cost, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn.

However, in a separate act that was not part of the agreement with the federal government, Schwarzenegger will sign an executive order that ends the California National Guard's participation on Dec. 31, 2008, state officials said.

''This allows us to participate in the plan to secure the nation's border while also addressing the concerns the governor had raised,'' Mendelsohn said.

Schwarzenegger's decision ended an awkward period for the Republican governor. He held out longer than Democratic governors in Arizona and New Mexico before saying he would send troops.

Meanwhile in Washington, President Bush pressed a passionately divided Congress on Thursday to reach an election-year compromise on immigration legislation that provides a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country.

With his speech before business leaders and members of a government-sponsored civilian volunteer group, Bush hoped to build momentum for Senate and House negotiators to resolve difficult disputes. The two houses have passed sharply different versions of the legislation. To achieve one of his top domestic priorities of the year, Bush will have to bring around conservatives in his own party. ''It's a difficult task,'' Bush pointedly told Congress in remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ``Yet the difficulty of this task is no excuse for avoiding it.''

The House bill generally is limited to border enforcement, making all illegal immigrants subject to felony charges and cracking down on employers who hire illegals. The Senate version includes more money for border security, creates a guest worker program to bring in new foreign workers, and provides a shot at citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

Bush also will travel to several cities next week -- Artesia, N.M.; Laredo, Texas; and Omaha, Neb. -- to pitch his immigration approach, the White House said Thursday.

''The American people expect us to meet our responsibility and deliver immigration reform that fixes the problems in the current system,'' Bush said. ``All of the elements of this problem must be addressed together, or none of them will be solved at all.''

There is skepticism that a compromise can be reached in a year when most of Congress is up for reelection, and many believe Republicans could be at risk of losing their control over one or both chambers.

Last time I heard. He's suppose to be sending down around 2,500 troops. I can't wait to see their vehicles on our freeways heading south. Hooo-rah

Who cares how many they send time? None of them are going to be armed and can't do anything anyway. Mexican gangsters and drug lords can fire upon our BP, but yet our BP and whoever else is suppose to defend our border aren't even allowed to be armed. Yeah that would give me incentive to do my job if I were them.

The Senate version includes more money for border security, creates a guest worker program to bring in new foreign workers, and provides a shot at citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

Provides a shot? Ha!

What it provides is guaranteed citizenship for every illegal who claims to have been here at least two years. Of course, they will have to pass an exhaustive background check, which has to be conducted on all 20 million of them in 90 days or less.