Obama Sends [National] Guard To The Border

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Washington…Seeking political cover in his pursuit of immigration reform, President Obama will send up to 1,200 additional National Guard troops—and request $500 million in additional funds-- to support law enforcement efforts along the Southwest border, the White House said Tuesday.

The troops won't make arrests or otherwise intervene directly, but will help with support and surveillance targeted both at illegal border crossing and drug smuggling, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The Guard will target trafficking in people, money, drugs and weapons, National Security Advisor James Jones and Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan said in a letter to Sen. Carl Levin, noting that more than 300 troops are already on the ground. The White House said the new money will allow the Border Patrol to target more smuggling routes, and it will fund more prosecutions in overstretched federal courts along the border. "This is the latest step in an on-going effort to ensure the Federal government fulfills its responsibility to secure the Southwest Border," the official said.

The moves comes a month after Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told a Senate committee that the U.S.-Mexico border "is as secure as it has ever been," and pointed out that crime rates on the U.S. side have declined, despite a spate of drug- related violence on the Mexico side. Republicans blasted her remarks, and have been demanding that the administration step up efforts to tackle illegal immigration and border violence.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/sc-dc-obama-border-20100525,0,1672690.story