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Guarding the border

Disagreeable

Well-known member
It looks like th Border Patrol isn't too enthused about Bush's plan. Full article; links below; my emphasis.

"Border Patrol officials say they wouldn’t turn down the help of the 6,000 National Guardsmen that President Bush plans to deploy to the nation’s southern border, but said their assistance wouldn’t be of great help either.
"We wouldn’t turn it down," said T.J. Bonner, National Border Patrol Council president. "But it’s of marginal value. It’s being touted as something that could free up all these Border Patrol agents."
There are already a couple of hundred agents helping the Border Patrol by serving in support roles, but there aren’t 6,000 positions for the guardsmen to fill, he said.
Bonner dismissed Bush’s five-part plan, which was outlined Monday primetime in a live address to the American people, as a "political smokescreen" to appease those who are calling for more border security.Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, a member of the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition that has testified to Congress that the southern border is being overrun by violence, also felt the National Guard deployment was just a Band-Aid to a much bigger problem.
Bush called for the National Guard troops to assist the U.S. Border Patrol secure the southern border for as long as one year.
The guardsmen would serve in a supporting role by installing fencing, perform surveillance and other tasks, but would not be involved in direct law enforcement activity, Bush said.
"The United States is not going to militarize the southern border," the president said.
Securing the borders, which would be just one part of his comprehensive immigration reform plan, will take time, he said. Yet the need is urgent.
State militias on the border would be a temporary fix, as more Border Patrol agents are trained and technology is developed. Guardsmen would be phased out over time.
"I think they recognize the need for more manpower," said Paul Perez, president of the Border Patrol’s local union that represents 75 percent of the non-supervisory agents and civilian employees in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. "I don’t see the National Guard’s presence hurting us at all."
But more Border Patrol agents should be a top priority, he said.
"We need more eyes on the ground," Perez said. "More agents."
But National Guardsmen helping to secure the border is an indication that not enough has been done, he said.
The National Guard currently has a little more than 300 people already assisting the Border Patrol and Customs in intelligence posts, surveillance, construction and checking cargo along the southwestern border, said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Department of Defense spokeswoman.
They’ve also helped stop drug trafficking across the border for more than a decade, she said.
Bonner said the number of guardsmen helping Homeland Security departments dwindled with the onset of the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"The Guard is stretched so thin to begin with," he said.
Krenke said there are 444,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen. Only about 66,000 of those are deployed worldwide or are getting ready for deployment.
"I think it’s a good idea," said Johnny Garza, the owner of Garza’s Countertops in McAllen. "It sends the message to the world that you can’t just walk across the border without any type of consequences."
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which has loudly called for the military to secure the borders, doesn’t feel Bush’s plan has any teeth.
"Sending unarmed troops to assist the Border Patrol with logistics consisting of paper-pushing and vehicle maintenance is exactly what Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has done as a vacant political scheme during an election year," said Minuteman president Chris Simcox in a statement. "President Bush’s political maneuver will do nothing more than place career desk jockeys and support personnel in a very dangerous environment."
"We do not take lightly those why try to take us for fools."

The Minutemen want armed guards.
"Instead he proposes to perhaps send some National Guard mechanics to help patch up the holes shot in our Border Patrol jeeps by the Mexican Army," Simcox said.
Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, National Guardsmen are prohibited from performing direct law enforcement, said Lt. Col. Mike Milord, spokesman for the National Guard Bureau.
Guardsmen only carry out a direct law enforcement mission under state control — as was the case in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The guardsmen patrolled with police and had arrest powers, Milord said.
Gov. Rick Perry said on Monday he wants to keep National Guard troops under state control, but he is in favor of the troops supporting the Border Patrol.
It is not clear whether the federal government or state government would be in control of the guardsmen.
"We have used the National Guard in a role along the border for some time now," Perry said. "I am heartened that the administration is following our lead in realizing that the Guard does have some role to play."
Perry said the troops would still be available if needed to assist if a hurricane or other natural disaster strikes.
"We have the ability to multi-task," he said.
But it wouldn’t matter if the National Guard was armed, Bonner said, because nothing is being done to illegal immigrants when they get past the border. It isn’t possible to fix illegal immigration without coming down hard on employers and making it "idiot-proof" to hire legal workers, he said.
The military will not help the situation unless they are going to shoot every illegal immigrant who tries to get across, Walter Sein sarcastically said as he pumped gas Monday evening. The 49-year-old McAllen resident is the owner of a commercial printing business.
He said he was worried that a military presence would scare people and hurt tourism and business.
"Is that all the recourse we have? We are supposed to be a civilized country," he said."


http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=13193&Section=Local
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Dis- This is starting to look more like a dog and pony show to pacify the home folk to me, rather than something that will work...

A large enough armed military force actively patroling the border could be a strong deterrent and plug the influx-- but I was reading yesterday that they were going to just send down unarmed guard units that wanted to do their 3 weeks summer training there- then when the 3 weeks is up, recycle in another group...

You can't even get acclimated to the area in 3 weeks- let alone learn the job- or how to do it well....Apparently Bush caved in to Fox about militarizing the border....

And I heard yesterday that Mexico was threatening to sue the US if a Mexican illegal was injured or harmed by a National Guard operation :roll: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Then Paul Harvey said the Mexican government is spreading the rumor that Bush is going to declare a blanket amnesty in the near future, which is causing a mad stampede for the border :(
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Would it not be cheaper just to invade Mexico? I mean we're in " WAR MODE" these days anyway!!!

The border between Mexico & the Central American states is MUCH shorter..and easier to patrol

Besides...one wonders what V Fox has on Bush cause EVERYTHING Fox wants from us...HE GETS....WE DON'T...HE DOES!!!!
 

theHiredMansWife

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
ut I was reading yesterday that they were going to just send down unarmed guard units that wanted to do their 3 weeks summer training there- then when the 3 weeks is up, recycle in another group...

Ah.



In other words, this is just an acclimation exercise before they ship over to Iraq... :nod:
 

IL Rancher

Well-known member
I think Chavez went to some meeting with Castro, or sat with him or something... Hugo is a... well... interesting person? I hadn't heard the Iran connection reports but I imagine it has to do with both the Iranians and Chavez talking about true value of Oil and how it isn't there yet or something like that...

As far as the Mexico thing and just don't hire them. well, I don't control who Tyson hires or who Walmart hires (Just listing two companies that I KNOW have been hit for their hiring process, although the Walmart once was through contractors they hired) and I hate saying this but I can't tell a real good faked social security or drivers liscense from a real one so if I am hiring and a Mexican or Dominican comes to apply and speaks english, has the documents and says they are legal, and in turn we do payrol taxes I have to assume he is legal... IF he is not I guess at least he is paying taxes?


I suppose you can say to yourself that you just won't hire hispanics... Oh wait, than you get sued for discrimination based on race...
 

Disagreeable

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Dis- This is starting to look more like a dog and pony show to pacify the home folk to me, rather than something that will work...

A large enough armed military force actively patroling the border could be a strong deterrent and plug the influx-- but I was reading yesterday that they were going to just send down unarmed guard units that wanted to do their 3 weeks summer training there- then when the 3 weeks is up, recycle in another group...

You can't even get acclimated to the area in 3 weeks- let alone learn the job- or how to do it well....Apparently Bush caved in to Fox about militarizing the border....

And I heard yesterday that Mexico was threatening to sue the US if a Mexican illegal was injured or harmed by a National Guard operation :roll: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Then Paul Harvey said the Mexican government is spreading the rumor that Bush is going to declare a blanket amnesty in the near future, which is causing a mad stampede for the border :(

I think you're right; it's political pandering. Do you remember Dukakis riding around in that tank looking silly? The bloggers are speculating that soon we'll see Bush with a rifle, then chasing some illegals through the rocks, maybe with handcuffs dangling from his waist. :lol:
 
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