Posted on 06/29/2010 10:05:14 AM PDT by SandRat
TUCSON Mondays announcement that 524 National Guard troops will be coming to Arizona beginning in August and various amounts will deploy to other border states was met with responses ranging from it isnt enough to the Texas governor saying his state is being short-changed by President Barack Obamas plan.
The announcement of the total deployment of 1,200 was made in Tucson on Monday during a joint news conference held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, both Democrats.
They held a news conference prior to the team sent out by the president briefing Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.
Giffords and Goddard, who is running for governor, each denied that their pre-emptive news conference was a political ploy in an election year.
They said Obamas special team traveled to Arizona to talk to Brewer in Phoenix, first stopping in Tucson to be briefed by federal and local officials, including the two Democrats
Brewer on many occasions has asked the president for assistance along the border, and she met with Obama in Washington on June 3. Brewer said Obama told her his administration would update her, and Mondays trip was for that reason.
Giffords has been pushing at all levels of the federal government the White House and Department of Homeland Security in particular seeking National Guard forces to be assigned to the border.
Although the two-term congresswoman sought 3,000 troops, Arizonas senior Republican, U.S. Sen., John McCain, sought even more.
In a news release Monday, after the announcement of how many of the 1,200 would be coming to Arizona, McCain, who is up for re-election, said while he appreciates the presidents move, this is simply not enough.
From first-hand knowledge, he said the 524 sent to Arizona is not sufficient to protect the states 370-mile border, nor ensure the safety of its citizens, McCain said.
Until the president visits the Arizona-Mexico border, he will never realize at least 6,000 National Guard troops are necessary to assist in securing the entire Southwest border, the senator added.
Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry is unhappy with his states allocation, according to The Associated Press.
Since Texas has 64 percent of the border between the U.S. and Mexico, the 250 National Guard troops being assigned is insufficient, Perry said, according to The AP.
California is scheduled to get 224 and New Mexico 72, with the remaining 130 to be assigned to a national liaison office, according to various reports.
Giffords said the presidential team led by John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, listened to a number of people, mostly from southern Arizona, representing federal, state and local agencies before the press meeting with Brewer.
It is important for a person who has access to the president to inform him of the concerns and needs of people who work and live along the border, Giffords said of her involvement in Mondays events.
A $600 million supplemental has been sent to Congress to fund additional federal agencies, as well as pay for two more unmanned aerial systems to be used to patrol Arizonas border with Mexico, she said. Currently, BP drones fly missions out of Fort Huachuca.
Brennan told the governor the additional funding will help pay for 500 more Border Patrol agents for Arizona as well as 50 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, along with additional Department of Justice assets to include Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm Gunrunner Teams, which will monitor the movement of weapons into Mexico, and special FBI squads.
As for the assignment of National Guard troops to Arizona, C.J. Karamargin, Giffords press aide, said the majority will be used as identification teams along the border between ports of entry helping the BP detect the movement of illegal immigrants and drugs.
Some will be assigned to listening or observation posts, or will operate scope vehicles and ground sensors and perform sky watch operations, he said.
Additionally, 20 of the National Guard members will be criminal intelligence analysts, with seven each assigned to the BPs Tucson Sector and Phoenix Sector, and six to the Yuma Sector, Karamargin said.
Four people from Cochise County attended the meeting Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer, Cochise County Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy Rod Rothrock, Sierra Vista Police Chief Kenneth Kimmel and Douglas Police Chief Alberto Melis.
Rheinheimer, a Republican office holder, said he and others are concerned about the potential for violence in Mexico spilling over into the United States. With Arizona the major pathway north for illegal immigrants and drugs, the states border regions are ripe for those problems, he said.
The northward trek of violence from Mexico is coming close to southern Arizona border communities and those who live along the border in Arizona are frightened, the county attorney said.
People are just terrorized, he said.
The fear is real, as are law enforcement officials concerns uncontrolled violence is already coming across the border with an increase in home invasions and burglaries, Rheinheimer said.
To see what is happening now is a harbinger of possible things to come, he added.
Another concern is that the Mexican drug cartels firepower could overpower law enforcement in the state, the country attorney said.
The Border Patrol will be outgunned, Rheinheimer said.
What tends to be overlooked is the limited resources an area 6,200 square miles the size of Cochise County has, he said.
The issues along the rural areas of border are different from those in Phoenix and Tucson, Rheinheimer said.
Their goal in entering Cochise County is to get out of Cochise County, the country attorney said.
The only thing bordering on good news regarding illegal immigrants or those bringing in drugs is that they have no desire to remain here long, preferring to move on to urban areas, he said.
Rheinheimer said the presidents team wanted to hear the concerns of those involved in rural Arizona.
They listened more than they talked, he said.
Kimmel said he believes our federal partners are doing the best they can as the resources roll in.
Saying his department has a great working relationship with BP and ICE, Kimmel recognizes they have to take time to hire the right people and to train them.
So, I was pleased to hear that, along with some National Guard troops, theyre talking about more money, more financial support for this area, he said.
What is critical, the police chief said, was that all components of the nation take responsibility because the drug trade is supply and demand, and so is a lot of the illegal immigration.
As long as there is a need in the United States for those products, its going to be supplied from south of the border, Kimmel said.
I truly believe that all the representatives from Homeland Security and all the federal partners that were there recognize that the border violence that has been incredibly bad south of the border is starting to filter through and impact communities, small and large, he said.
EDITORS NOTE: Sierra Vista police reporter Derek Jordan contributed to this article.
Border ping
If they issued Letters of Marque for the area that has been declared too dangerous, I bet there would be volunteers a-plenty to protect the border.
He’s probably sending them there to protect the Mexicans against Arizona Law Enforcement.
(I REALLY like the idea of Lettes of Marqee!!!! The government should ALSO issue them to private citizens who have to work or live in HARA areas in urban centers!!)
I sure wish our elected royals, including nobama would walk the litter highway in AZ. Let them experience the THRILL the owners of the property feel whenever they check their property for dead or injured illegals.
The only way 524 soldiers would have an impact on that border would be if they drove around in gunned-up jeeps carrying out lighting raids, like the wartime SAS.
They should build forts along the border like in the old days.
And the Rules of Engagement will be to be avoid any contact with illegals while on patrol.
Something like Carnarvon Castle would be great.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Carnarvon+Castle&FORM=IGRE&qpvt=Carnarvon+Castle&adlt=strict#
So would Harlech:
http://www.guide-to-castles-of-europe.com/harlech-castle.html
Or, best of all, Crac Des Chevaliers, the Templar Fortess:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Krak_des_Chevaliers.html
(Never captured)
This PC sounds like a BO attempt to make the demon running for Gov seem like they are doing all the work. So BO won’t do any real enforcement unless a demon is elected.
Ping!
Conwy and Beaumaris are other favorites.
Obamas Plans For Border Security Include Sending More Money To Mexico Than Hes Sending To AZ
http://www.resistnet.com/video/brewerobama-giving-twice-the?xg_source=activity
Brewer:Obama giving twice the money to Mexico than Arizona for Nat. Guard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G2zD4Gmf3s&feature=youtube_gdata
A White House statement said plans to deploy 1,200 additional National Guard soldiers along the U.S.-Mexico border would “complement the unprecedented resources and additional efforts already devoted by this administration to securing the Southwest border.”
Arizona would get 524 National Guard troops, Texas would get 250, California 224 and New Mexico 72, officials said. Another 130 would be at a national liaison office.
The annointed one can't have an upstart Governor standing up to him.
I will be surprised if any National Guard Troops are deployed, if they are I don't believe they will be placed where they can do any good. This is only an attempt to upstage Governor Brewer, and eliminate news coverage of anything she has to say.
Like with Sheriff Joe, that can't be done.
You know that, I know that, but the fools in the White House don’t.
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