Bush sets plan to beef up Border Patrol, send in Guard

President Bush announced a temporary program to send National Guard troops to the southern border to support border control agents, using Monday night's speech to the nation to try to build credibility for the effort to pass a "comprehensive" immigration bill through Congress.

Bush, who spoke from the Oval Office, clearly rejected the approach of the House, which last year adopted a bill focusing narrowly on border security.

The Senate this week is considering a broader bill that, in addition to border security, includes a path to legal status for most of the 12 million illegal immigrants said to be in the United States, and a guest worker program to meet future employment needs.

"Tonight, I want to speak directly to members of the House and the Senate," Bush said. "An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together -- or none of them will be solved at all."

But the president did not issue a clear veto threat against a border-security and law enforcement-only bill, perhaps leaving him wiggle room to accept something less than the legislation moving in the Senate.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., praised the plan, but said his committee would hold a hearing "at the earliest possible opportunity." Other lawmakers said it would further stretch Guard troops already tested by wars and hurricane relief.

Bush said that as many as 6,000 Guard members will be deployed to the border with Mexico while the government implements an initiative to add 6,000 border control officers by the end of 2008.

In a briefing for reporters earlier in the day, White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend said the deployment would likely begin next month.

Bush said the initial commitment of the Guard would be one year, and then the number would decline as new border control officers are hired.

Border control agents will perform direct law enforcement activities, while Guard members will assist by operating surveillance systems, analyzing intelligence, installing fences and vehicle barriers, building patrol roads and providing training, Bush said.

Bush said the federal government would also help increase the use of local and state police to combat illegal immigration.

The president announced several steps to end the "catch and release" program -- under which immigrants not from Mexico are often released in the United States and not immediately sent home -- including continuing to expand the number of beds in detention facilities.

Bush is asking Congress for $327 million to help end catch and release, according to Townsend. This and other funding -- including money related to the Guard -- would be part of $1.9 billion included for border security as part of the Senate's fiscal 2006 supplemental, with the administration seeking to direct funds to the president's priorities.

But Bush will continue to insist that the legislation fall within his top line of $92.2 billion plus funding for addressing a potential pandemic flu. The Senate is well over that mark.

The president also proposed a new identification card for immigrants participating in a temporary worker program. The card would use "biometric" technology "to make it tamper-proof," Bush said, and leave employers "with no excuse" for hiring illegal immigrants.

The president's proposal to use the National Guard to beef up security got mixed reviews on Capitol Hill.

"The president got off to a good start tonight, but now he must stand up to right-wing members of his own party who are working to block Senate action," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement.

Earlier Monday, Reid called on Bush to "publicly renounce the House bill," adding that he feared the Senate bill could be "hijacked" by House conservatives in a potential House-Senate conference. "We need to know what kind of immigration reform he supports," Reid said.

Reid said he was not opposed to using the National Guard along the border, but cited critics who said the Guard was stretched thin and might not be able to handle those duties.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., panned the plan, saying the National Guard was ill-suited for the task and that money would be better spent training border patrol officers.

"I urge the president not to distract the nation from the urgent work of immigration reform," Kennedy said. "This is no time to promote the deployment of the National Guard along the border. The administration must resist its first impulse to address every challenge by calling in the troops."

Others complained that the proposal would send the wrong signal.

"I am deeply concerned that the militarization of our borders, both to the north and to the south, is a shortsighted strategy which has far reaching repercussions on our relationships with nations throughout the Western hemisphere," said Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. "We do not need another short-term fix to the immigration problem, but a long-term, comprehensive solution to securing our borders, enforcing our laws and dealing with the human and economic reality of the millions of undocumented workers currently living in the U.S."

But other lawmakers embraced the idea, which backers of comprehensive immigration legislation hoped would reassure people that the borders could be secured, bolstering the case for a broader immigration overhaul.

"I am hopeful that this deployment will soften opposition from 'enforcement only' advocates in Congress and encourage them to work toward a comprehensive solution," said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas.

Meanwhile, debate over immigration legislation got off to a slow start Monday, with senators debating only one amendment, sponsored by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., that would delay the implementation of a guest worker program or any other provisions of the Senate bill until the Homeland Security Department could certify that the borders were secure.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said that he was "disappointed" that Democrats would not permit additional amendments to be introduced, but said he hoped the bill would be "on track" Tuesday.

Other amendments to the bill were expected Tuesday, including a Democratic alternative to the Isakson amendment, as well as a measure sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would require companies to advertise to hire U.S. workers before their immigrant workers could obtain green cards.