States Respond to Potential National Guard Border Patrol

May 12, 2006 — -- The White House is considering calling up more than 5,000 National Guard troops to help secure the border between the United States and Mexico.

The troops would not be involved directly in law enforcement, which is prohibited by law. Instead the National Guard would play a supporting role, manning surveillance cameras in border towns, taking over office duties to free up law enforcement officers for border patrol and operating unmanned surveillance aircraft drones.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., one of the staunchest opponents of the president's immigration plan, said he is in favor of using the Guard.

"We train National Guard all over the country, and there is no reason why we shouldn't be conducting that training on our borders," Tancredo said. "Really, we are not trying to take them from other places where they are needed."

There are already several hundred National Guard working on counterdrug measures along the border. Today the governors of the four states affected were divided about adding more troops.

The governors of Texas and Arizona were in favor of the plan, while the governors of California and New Mexico were against it.

"Our guardsmen are tired, they've been in Afghanistan and Iraq. I need our National Guard for forest fires," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said.

The White House insists that the added border duties would not get in the way of domestic responsibilities or overseas deployments. And the Guard would not likely be called from only border states.

But would 5,000 troops make a real difference in border security?

"Five thousand National Guardsmen at the border is a substantial increase in our capability overall, which is about 10,000 total agents right now," said Michael O'Hanlon, at the Brookings Institute. "So you're looking at a 50 percent increase."

Immigration reform has become one of the most controversial issues facing this White House and outside the Capitol today the furor over this issue was evident.