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GOP presses governor on border troops front
The Business Journal of Phoenix - 1:29 PM MST Wednesdayby Mike SunnucksThe Business Journal
Almost a month after Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered state National Guard troops to help support security at the U.S./Mexican border, no additional troops have been deployed in that effort.

Napolitano said Wednesday, however, that the state is in the process of mustering personnel for that border effort.

Republicans point out that their notion of the guard at the border is very different from Napolitano.

The governor supports using the National Guard in a support capacity while some Republicans want them patrolling and doing direct security work.

Napolitano said Wednesday the Arizona National Guard is still coordinating and mustering troops to help support border security and other law enforcement agencies.

The governor said the state is redeploying some existing money to fund the effort and is calling up guard troops. She stressed the effort takes some time to ramp up because of the time commitments required of guard troops.

Napolitano vetoed a $10 million funding bill for National Guard troops passed by the Legislature last month because she said it stepped on executive powers. The Democratic governor issued a state of emergency in four border counties last summer and issued an executive order to send state troops to the border (in a support capacity) last month.

The order last month earned Napolitano national and international media attention.

The state has had National Guard troops helping federal, state and local law enforcement agencies with drug trafficking and other investigations for a number of years. Some of those efforts end up being more related to border security than others, said state National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre.

Aguirre said the federal government currently funds the assistance program. He said anywhere between 10 and 100 state guard troops work with other law enforcement agencies at any one time.

Napolitano's new order is expected to add another 100 troops to that effort.

Republicans want to see Guard troops there in an enforcement and patrolling capacity, not assisting and supporting as is the existing practice supported by the governor.

"This Governor could put the National Guard on the border today without costing us one penny. They are required to train two days a month and two weeks per year minimum and that could all be done on the border and it is already paid for," said state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.

Pearce is a leading supporter of tougher immigration and border security controls and supports allocating $10 million in state money to have the National Guard patrolling the border.

"This Governor has not one National Guardsman on the border, even after her Declaration of State of Emergency, in which she admitted the failure to have a secured border is resulting in death, injury, theft and a huge economic burden to the taxpayers of this state," Pearce said.

Pearce points out that the governor has called up state troops to help with wildfires but not for border security. The governor also mobilized some National Guard units to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Arizona Guard units have also been deployed to Iraq in recent years.

Napolitano has put forward a $100 million border security program in her budget. That includes construction of a crime lab in southern Arizona and state money to help local governments deal with the costs of illegal immigration.

The governor has also criticized the federal government and the Bush administration for not moving faster and dedicating more money toward border security and reimbursing states for the costs of illegal immigration.

Immigration is poised to be a top election-year issue in the Arizona governor's race and other contests.

Republicans paint Napolitano as weak on immigration and border security pointing to her opposition to new security walls, efforts to deny state services to illegal immigrants and not supporting National Guard border patrols.

The governor supports a business-backed guest worker program, bringing more technology and security resources to the border and imposing fines on employers who hire illegals.

Some Republicans have also called for National Guard troops to be called up to help with security at Monday's planned pro-immigrant March in downtown Phoenix.

That march is expected to draw 100,000 immigrant protesters opposed to get-tough measures passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Napolitano said Wednesday Phoenix police will handle the rally; the state government will remain open during the massive protests but state resources will be ready in case they are needed.