Forbes
Associated Press
States Pledge More National Guard Troops
By AARON C. DAVIS , 06.30.2006, 09:10 PM
On the deadline to have 2,500 troops along the Mexican border, the National Guard said Friday that only 483 were in position and working with the U.S. Border Patrol as the Bush administration had directed.
But Guard officials said more than 2,000 others were somewhere inside the four southwestern border states, training or helping plan the deployment. He and Bush administration officials argued Friday that the presence of troops in those states spelled success in the first stage of the mission.
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, an arm of the Pentagon, had promised June 1 that by the end of the month 2,500 Guard troops would be working “on the border.”
“As defined by the operation, the National Guard has met and exceeded its goal of deploying 2,500 soldiers and airmen to the four Southwest border states,” said White House spokesman Blain Rethmeier. “Progress to date is real and the Guard’s efforts are making a positive difference in this national effort.”
As evidence, he said the early arrival of troops had allowed the Border Patrol to send 125 agents “back to the front lines,” and helped the Border Patrol catch nearly 200 illegal immigrants, seize 123 pounds of marijuana, 18 pounds of cocaine and seven vehicles.
Through initial pay requests filed with the Air Guard and orders filed with the Army Guard, the Guard bureau verified 2,547 troops were in the four border states for the mission, said Daniel Donohue, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau.
Only 483 were physically on the border, he conceded.
The remaining forces – 1,816 – are in training somewhere in the four states; 248 are assigned to headquarters and planning roles, Donohue said.
Asked to clarify, Blum spokesman Mark Allen responded by e-mail that the general had never specifically promised to deliver troops to a “geographically defined latitude and longitude.”
Still, there were signs the deployment was picking up speed.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said 1,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen were either on the border or “on their way,” adding 500 to totals released Thursday. But his office said the additional troops didn’t actually reach the border, but were considered deployed when they left Friday for two weeks of training.
Several states whose Guard leaders and governors had been contacted by the National Guard Bureau in the last 48 hours also made announcements Friday that they would send troops.
Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina said he would reluctantly deploy 300 troops to the border in mid-July.
“I would prefer not to have any of the North Carolina National Guard deployed to other states at this time,” he said. “However, the Guard units in the western states are spread thin as they battle raging wildfires. We must all step up and do our part to keep our country safe.”
Kentucky announced it would send up to 650 National Guard troops. Arkansas also said it would send 200. New Jersey also said it would send up to 650 for three-week assignments.
Damon Foreman, senior patrol agent and spokesman for the Border Patrol in San Diego, said agents there eagerly await the Guard’s help.
“We would welcome all the help we could get. We could absorb them as fast as we could give them instructions on what to do,” Foreman said, adding that the delayed deployment, however, had not affected operations.
“We’ve been doing a considerably effective job for a long time now, we’ll keep doing our job whether the whole number of Guard show up tomorrow, a week from tomorrow, or a month from now.”
Bush’s plan for stemming illegal immigration by using National Guardsmen in a support role called for 2,500 troops to be on the border by June 30, and 6,000 by the end of July.
Bush had said the mission would free up thousands of officers now on other duties to actively patrol the border. Guardsmen are expected to build fences, conduct routine surveillance and take care of other administrative duties for the border patrol.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press.
This ABC version is different in helpful ways:
SACRAMENTO, June 30, 2006 – The Bush administration has been unable to muster even half the 2,500 National Guardsmen it planned to have on the Mexican border by the end of June, officials in the border states said.
As of Thursday, the next-to-last day of the month, fewer than 1,000 troops were in place, according to military officials in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona. The head of the National Guard Bureau disputed that tally and said the goal would be met by Friday.
President Bush’s plan called for all 50 states to send troops. But only 10 states – including the four border states – have signed commitments.
Some state officials have argued that they cannot free up Guardsmen because of flooding in the East, wildfires in the West or the prospect of hurricanes in the South.
“It’s not a combat priority. It is a volunteer mission,” said Kristine Munn, spokeswoman for the National Guard Bureau, an arm of the Pentagon, “so it’s a question of balancing the needs of the Border Patrol with the needs of 54 states and territories, and all those balls roll in different directions.”
Bush’s plan called for 2,500 troops to be on the border in support roles by June 30, and 6,000 by the end of July. But officials in the border states said the Guard won’t reach the 2,500 target until early to mid-July and will likely need longer to meet the 6,000 mark.
“The magical numbers coming out of Washington are not going to happen, definitely not by Friday,” said Maj. Paul Ellis, a spokesman for the Arizona National Guard.
A White House spokesman declined to comment, referring questions to the National Guard Bureau.
Later Thursday, Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, issued a statement saying that the Guard “will have 2,500 Army and Air National Guard members supporting Operation Jump Start in the four border states,” by Friday.
“Reports to the contrary are factually incorrect and ill-informed,” his statement said.
Blum’s spokesman, Daniel Donohue, said he could not account for the state reports about the lagging numbers. He suggested Guardsmen serving in support roles, such as cooks and others, may have been overlooked.
Lower troop numbers and gaps in deployments could mean fewer Border Patrol officers will be able to focus on catching illegal immigrants as planned. Bush had said the mission would free up thousands of officers now on other duties to actively patrol the border. Guardsmen are expected to build fences, conduct routine surveillance and take care of other administrative duties for the border patrol.
Munn said nearly 1,800 troops were committed to the mission. But Guard officials from California to Texas said more than half have yet to reach the border. At least 600 are weeks away from getting there.
Only six non-border states – Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Montana, Tennessee and Wisconsin – have officially joined the mission.
In recent days West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina and Arkansas pledged troops, but many of those would not arrive until sometime next month, said Tom Koch, a New Mexico National Guard spokesman. On Thursday, Virginia announced that about 350 National Guard members had volunteered. Friday morning North Carolina sent 300 troops to the border.
Major problems began to appear last week when California, which has already committed to sending 1,000 troops, said it turned down an administration request for 1,500 more to cover expected shortfalls in the numbers sent by Arizona and New Mexico.
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old Schwarzenegger’s spokesman, Adam Mendelsohn, said the state is leading all others in contributing troops and the shortfalls are not California’s responsibility.
“The governor is prepared to do whatever it takes to secure California’s border,” he said, “However, at the start of fire season, we cannot send troops to New Mexico and Arizona and other states when we already have 1,000 troops committed to this.”
Associated Press writers April Castro in Austin, Texas, Sue Holmes in Albuquerque, N.M., Arthur Rotstein in Tucson, Ariz., and Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.
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