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  1. #1
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    Texas Repubs protest plan to move National Guard troops

    Texas Republicans protest plan to move National Guard troops off the border
    By: Sara A. Carter
    National Security Correspondent
    November 19, 2010

    Republican congressmen from Texas on Friday objected to the Obama administration plans to withdraw National Guard troops from the borders of Texas, New Mexico and California by the end of February.

    The Texas Republicans also called on the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency to cancel its planned restart of the Alien Transfer and Exit Program, under which illegal immigrants detained by police are sent from other states to Del Rio, Texas, to await transfer to Mexican authorities.

    A letter outlining the lawmakers' objections, signed by 18 of Texas' 20 Republican congressmen, was delivered to the White House Friday.

    "We are aware of your plan to end the National Guard deployment in Texas, fewer than six months after the beginning of operations, and we strongly object to this action," the letter states. "Until the border is secured, this course of action seriously jeopardizes our national security and unnecessarily puts Americans at risk."

    DHS officials told The Examiner that the plan to withdraw National Guard troops by the end February has not been vetted at the top levels of the department. The proposal came from field personnel and had not been "signed off by the appropriate chain of command," DHS officials said. "This one has not even been seen by (Customs and Border Protection) leadership, let alone DHS," the official said.

    Officials with the Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office, which released a detailed letter of the administration's plans to the Texas congressional delegation Thursday, said the discussion took place with Customs and Border Protection officials. "We received CBP correspondence that this plan was moving forward," said Katherine Cesinger, deputy spokeswoman for Gov. Perry. "We have every reason to believe that this was a solid plan and it raised major concerns in our office."

    The 286 Texas National Guard troops sent by the administration to the border have only been fully operational since September. Texas Republicans want 1,000 more troops deployed "to support ongoing Texas border security efforts," the letter to the Obama states.

    "The violence along the border has not decreased," the letter says. "The recent murder at Falcon Lake is a stark example that the security situation on the border still requires National Guard presence." A Mexican investigator was killed and his severed head delivered to the Mexican military in October.

    The plan to pull the troops off the border was relayed by Perry's office to the Texas Congressional delegation. He cited discussions with federal officials.

    "In February, 2011, the Texas, New Mexico and California National Guard forces that were deployed to the border in September, 2010, under President's Obama's Southwest Border Augmentation Plan, will have 30 days to complete a total draw down of forces," the letter from the governor's office states.

    The roughly 550 troops will have the month of February to redeploy back to their units, Texas Congressman Ted Poe told The Examiner. Poe received the letter Thursday. His office confirmed with Department of Homeland Security officials that the plan came from the DHS.

    "It's apparently a plan the Obama administration believes will save money. We don't need fewer National Guard, we need more. We need to pass the Border National Guard Border Enforcement Act that would put 10,000 National Guard on the border," Poe said.

    Obama's original Southwest border plan would have ended in July 2011.

    According to officials familiar with the new initiative the "administration budgeted only $135 million for the entire deployment." The funds, originally budgeted for those three states, are expected to be reallocated to allow Arizona an additional 100 troops from March through September 2011 or "until such time as that money is exhausted," the letter from the governor's office stated.


    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local ... 84229.html

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