Published Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:54 PM PST
Border agents to thin

National Guard troops sent to assist Border Patrol will leave around June. About 3,000 more agents are needed as replacements.
By Brianna Bailey

IMPERIAL BEACH BORDER PATROL STATION — California National Guard troops man a darkened room filled with flat-screen computer monitors that looks like the control room of a television studio. The screens, part of a high-tech remote imaging system, monitor miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. It takes little more than a minute for troops to spot potential fence jumpers and notify Border Patrol agents, who speed to the exact spot in their green-and-white SUVs.

California National Troops have manned the station for nearly two years, but their mission at the border will end July 1 when its federal funding runs out, leaving the Border Patrol understaffed.

Assemblyman Van Tran toured the Guard’s Border Patrol operations Thursday and was dismayed to find the Border Patrol will need about 3,000 more agents to replace the National Guard troops who will begin leaving in June.

“What will you do when the National Guard’s mission here is over?â€