President Obama told Senate Republicans Tuesday that he’s read the controversial Arizona immigration law and is concerned it would allow for discrimination — but he is planning to deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to allay security concerns.
An administration official confirmed to Fox News that Obama plans to deploy the National Guard troops as needed and request $500 million for “enhanced border protection and law enforcement.”
The official said the National Guard would be used to “provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support,” as well as support “counternarcotics enforcement” and provide “training capacity” until the Border Patrol can bring more officers on board. The additional funding would be used to improve border security technology and increase the number of agents, investigators and prosecutors targeting drug, human and weapons traffickers.
The announcement came as Senate Republicans began introducing several border security amendments to a $60 billion war spending bill under consideration on the floor. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday proposed an amendment to send 6,000 National Guard troops to the border — a move Republicans want to pay for with unspent stimulus money.
McCain said on the floor that he appreciates Obama’s decision to deploy up to 1,200 troops but asked for more.
“I think it is a recognition of the violence on the border which has been really beyond description in some respects,” McCain said. “But it’s simply not enough.”
Senate Republicans confronted Obama on immigration and border security earlier in the day during a rare, private meeting on Capitol Hill. Though top Obama Cabinet officials critical of Arizona’s law have acknowledged they never read the bill, McCain said Obama told the senators he has read it and still believes it could allow for discrimination.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, who described the meeting as “testy,” said the president “wasn’t embracing” the call to secure the borders before pressing forward with a comprehensive immigration policy overhaul.
The administration official described Obama’s announcement Tuesday as “part of his comprehensive plan to secure the southwest border.”
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was among several lawmakers who requested more border security after Arizona rancher Robert Krentz was killed by a suspected illegal immigrant at the end of March, praised Obama for his National Guard announcement.
“(Arizona residents) know that more boots on the ground means a safer and more secure border. Washington heard our message,” she said.
(Source: Fox News)
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2 Responses
This is like treating cancer with a Band-Aid.
1200 men to a border that stretches across four states, is like as futile as his campagn promise to send in 3 bridgades to afgahnistan. That is when the U.S. army has 1.2 million soldiers availble. There allready is upward to a dozen thousand men at the border. Yet hundreds of thousands of mexicans cross each year. In order to stem illegal immigigration, we should pull out the thirty thousand soldier we have watching the Korean Border–where they are not doing anything, and use to defend ourselves, rather then an unhelpful ally that dragged us into war in 1949.
In addition, catching them is not worth anything if they are released. we must get tougher inside the U.S. on the illegals. Stop funding them in schools, hospitals and other social services.