Expert Questions Troop Surge at Mexican Border
Saturday, April 4, 2009 7:04 PM
By: Dave Eberhart, Newsmax

WASHINGTON – As President Barack Obama continues to mull returning thousands of National Guard troops to America's Southwest border, one expert says the surge is unnecessary – pointing to plunging apprehension rates of illegals, more U.S. Customs and Border Protection boots on the ground than ever, the lengthening border fence, enhanced electronic surveillance and increased cooperation by Mexico.

Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told a Heritage Foundation audience this week that despite all the brouhaha, apprehension rates now on the border are at their lowest level since the mid-1970s.

“We are on track this year for about 550,000 apprehensions,â€