National Guard Will Finally Be Deployed To Arizona & Other Border States
July 20th, 2010 - 9:59 pm ICT by Angela Kaye MasonJuly 20 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Troops from the National Guard will at long last be deployed to the United States/ Mexico border on August 1 for a year long term to help border patrol and aide in criminal investigations as well as keep a look out for illegal aliens who are attempting to cross the border into the United States, the ‘Associated Press’ reports from federal officials.
Although the troops will be armed, the weapons are only to be used in self defense, says General Craig McKinley who is the chief of the National Guard Bureau, when he spoke at a news conference at the Pentagon. These troops are to undergo training initially and are expected to be fully deployed across a nearly 2000 mile span of the United Sates border by September.
This announcement comes during a time when drug related violence has escalated in Mexico, and is being carried over the border into the United States. The decision by Barack Obama to bolster border security also comes as the United States government has decided to sue it’s own state, the state of Arizona, because of Arizona’s new immigration law, which re-establishes the laws which were already set in place on a federal level, but were not being enforced. It is an interesting decision to be made during an election year in the US.
Of the 1200 troops which are to be deployed along four border states, Arizona will get 524 troops, Texas is getting 250, California expects 224, and New Mexico will have 72, with another 130 being assigned to the national liaison office.
Along with the troops will be six more aircraft, which will include helicopters to help in border patrol. Homeland Security will supply these and 300 Customs and Border Protection Agents will be sent to the Tuscon, Arizona area. Mobile surveillance vans, and additional technology will also be supplied.
Alan Bersin, commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection division of Homeland Security stated, “The border is more secure and more resourced than it has ever been, but there is more to be done.” Arizona’s Attorney General Terry Goddard added, “It will help. Manpower clearly has been deficient. Technology has been somewhat deficient, and they’re bolstering that.”
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Tags: alan bersin, arizona area, barack obama, border security, border states, chief of the national guard bureau, craig mckinley, criminal investigations, customs and border protection, federal officials, illegal aliens, liaison office, mexico border, mile span, mobile surveillance, new immigration law, state of arizona, surveillance vans, tuscon arizona, united sates