LiberalNation
05-25-2010, 07:05 PM
glad I'm not an mp.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_national_guard_border;_ylt=AgGZc7KXqRUqBYKc9iFB 3w9vzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTJwOTdvN3ZzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAw NTI1L3VzX25hdGlvbmFsX2d1YXJkX2JvcmRlcgRjcG9zAzEEcG 9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDdHJvb3BzdG90aGVt
WASHINGTON – Under pressure to take action, President Barack Obama is ordering 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Tuesday, pre-empting Republican efforts to force a congressional vote to send the troops.
Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials.
The president's action comes as chances for comprehensive immigration reform, Obama's long-stated goal, look increasingly dim in this election year. Obama has been all but compelled to do something since Arizona's passage of a tough illegal-immigration law thrust the border problem into the public spotlight.
The National Guard troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and support efforts to block drug trafficking. They will temporarily supplement Border Patrol agents until Customs and Border Protection can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, an administration official said.
In 2006, President George W. Bush sent thousands of troops to the border to perform support duties that tie up immigration agents. But that program has since ended, and politicians in border states have called for troops to be sent to curb human and drug smuggling and to deal with Mexico's drug violence that has been spilling over into the United States.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_national_guard_border;_ylt=AgGZc7KXqRUqBYKc9iFB 3w9vzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTJwOTdvN3ZzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAw NTI1L3VzX25hdGlvbmFsX2d1YXJkX2JvcmRlcgRjcG9zAzEEcG 9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDdHJvb3BzdG90aGVt
WASHINGTON – Under pressure to take action, President Barack Obama is ordering 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Tuesday, pre-empting Republican efforts to force a congressional vote to send the troops.
Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials.
The president's action comes as chances for comprehensive immigration reform, Obama's long-stated goal, look increasingly dim in this election year. Obama has been all but compelled to do something since Arizona's passage of a tough illegal-immigration law thrust the border problem into the public spotlight.
The National Guard troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and support efforts to block drug trafficking. They will temporarily supplement Border Patrol agents until Customs and Border Protection can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, an administration official said.
In 2006, President George W. Bush sent thousands of troops to the border to perform support duties that tie up immigration agents. But that program has since ended, and politicians in border states have called for troops to be sent to curb human and drug smuggling and to deal with Mexico's drug violence that has been spilling over into the United States.