President Will Announce Plan for the Border

May 15, 2006 — -- The president will lay out plans tonight that would give millions of illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship and put as many 5,000 troops on the border.

The president's proposal would have National Guard troops working surveillance cameras and flying unmanned drones to spot illegal crossings.

Each year, the Border Patrol arrests 1.2 million people who try to illegally cross into the United States.

The details are still being worked out, but National Guard troops would not be standing on hilltops pointing guns at immigrants. Instead, they would take over administrative duties, freeing up Border Patrol agents for enforcement.

White House Counselor Dan Bartlett said that the president would "talk about increased presence along our Southern border. Mainly what he'll talk about is increased border agents."

"This is not about militarizing the border," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"The president is looking to do everything to secure the border. It's what the American people want. It's what he wants to do."

People like Carmen Mercer of Arizona welcome the president's new plan.

Mercer is the vice president of the Minutemen, a small army of volunteers devoted to stemming the immigrant tide by watching and tipping beleaguered Border Patrol agents.

Mercer is a grandmother who spent Mother's Day gazing into Mexico with a Colt .45 on her hip. She said she loved the idea of stationing National Guard troops on the border.

"That's what we've wanted all along," she said. "Guard or military or building a wall or a fence. We're fighting a war that I feel is senseless. We should be securing our own borders."

It is such a hot-button issue here, that the populist sheriff of Maricopa County formed a civilian posse and is now locking up illegal immigrants as felons. He doesn't believe the military should be enforcing domestic law, though, and immigrant advocates agree.

The president's get-tough approach is meant to appease conservative Republicans who are unhappy with the rest of the president's immigration reform plan.