Posted on 06/03/2006 8:48:42 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PHOENIX - Fifty-five National Guard members from Utah arrived in Yuma on Saturday afternoon — the first troops to be sent to the Arizona-Mexico border in a new crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Utah troops had been scheduled to work on fences and other projects as part of the Guard's long-standing efforts at the Arizona border, officials had said as late as Wednesday. But their mission has since been folded into President Bush's plan to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the four southern border states to supplement federal immigration agents.
The Utah troops got word of the change Friday from Guard officials in Washington, D.C., said Maj. Hank McIntire, a spokesman for the Utah National Guard.
They are scheduled to be briefed on their mission Sunday and start field work as early as Monday, he said.
Under the president's plan, troops will perform support duties to allow federal authorities to focus on border security. They won't perform law enforcement duties.
The Utah troops, who will not carry weapons, will be in Yuma for two weeks to install improved lighting at a border crossing, extend an existing border fence and build a road, McIntire said.
The projects will be done in the area of San Luis, Ariz., a town 25 miles south of Yuma with a fortified stretch of border with Mexico.
The town is part of the nation's busiest U.S. Border Patrol station, in a state that is the nation's busiest illegal entry point.
A 12-foot corrugated metal fence divides San Luis from Mexico, reinforced 50 yards to the north by an 8-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire and towers with surveillance cameras. Stadium lights help agents spot those who try to slip across at night.
Gov. Janet Napolitano proposed a similar plan in December, but it remained on the shelf while funding was sought.
Officials say 300 National Guard soldiers from Arizona are expected to begin arriving at the state's border in mid-June.
About 170 National Guard troops are already helping federal and state officers there with communications, fence construction and anti-drug efforts.
The National Guard has been providing such assistance along the Arizona border for more than 15 years.
Troops from the Utah Guard were deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005 and helped with recovery efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, McIntire said.
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If that's where they're going to be working, I think they ought to have guns.
They're not carrying weapons? I wonder why not. I thought that was part of their uniform.
We need to be praying for these guys too.
I doubt we could get Fox's permission for that...
Lots of photo ops and no substance.
Lipstick on a pig.
Escuse me senor while I geegle.
Sorry, folks. They are not going there to shoot Mexicans. They are going there to support the border patrol and free them up to enforce border security.
They will be assisting with construction of a steel fence, where there is no fence in some areas. The construction is only done in during the day, there isn't much cross border acitvity in this area during the daylight hours. They will be in more danger from the 110+ degree temperatures than from armed intruders.
Not this one who lives in the above mentioned area.
He says it's a "dog, and pony show."
Love your tag line.
good one/ lol
Odd how when our troops go into foreign countries, we jump all over those who don't support them and call the mission a sham or a failure. I guess these National Guard troops aren't "real" soldiers to some.
I thank them for their service, unlike the bitchers and whiners here who are too busy being snotty to do that.
Why would anyone call a pathetically inadequate hundredth-measure a "good thing"?
Agreed
Fluff and mirrors to calm the masses.
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