Tex., Ariz. want feds to sent troops to border


May 8, 2010

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers from states bordering Mexico are ticked off. More than a year after they asked the White House for National Guard troops to be deployed there, the Obama administration still has not formally responded.

In March 2009, governors of Texas and Arizona -- along with many of their states' Capitol Hill legislators -- pleaded with the White House to better secure their citizens and businesses from the swelling tide of smugglers, illegal immigrants and Mexican drug-war violence spilling over the border.

The administration promised to study the request and get back to them.

They didn't, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer say. Last month, Brewer complained that she had pleaded five times in letters to President Obama for more federal muscle, to no avail.

The administration says it has not been ignoring the border problems, noting that there now are airborne drones conducting surveillance flights; a full complement of 20,000 Border Patrol agents; a 653-mile border fence in place, and about $70 million sent in law-enforcement aid.

The governors say the border area remains unacceptably dangerous, citing the March murder of an Arizona rancher and the wounding of an Arizona deputy this month.

U.S. Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl, both Arizona Republicans, issued an urgent request for 3,000 troops to be sent.

Perry said Texas needs 1,000 troops to be dispatched there quickly.

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