National Guard chief says border deployments on track
There are now 3,600 troops along the border to assist CBP agents, with as many as 6,000 to be deployed by August.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau on Friday disputed critics of the Bush administration's plan to station as many as 6,000 Guard troops along the Southwest border, stating that the temporary deployments are on schedule.
There are now 3,600 troops along the border to assist Customs and Border Protection agents, with as many as 6,000 to be deployed by Aug. 1, Lt. Gen. Steven Blum told reporters at the Pentagon. There is "a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding out there," Blum said, referring to recent press reports that the administration has been unable to muster enough troops for the border-security mission.
Blum said the Guard delivered all troops and equipment promised by June 15 and surpassed its June 30 goal to send 2,500 Guard members to the border by roughly 300 troops. Meanwhile, Southwest border officials said during a conference in El Paso, Texas, earlier this week that the Guard is meeting expectations, Blum said.
Additionally, 30 of the country's governors have signed memorandums of understanding, indicating that they will free up their soldiers for the border mission, said Blum, who added he expects all 50 governors to eventually agree to assist in the efforts. There has been "great cooperation and collaboration amongst the nation's governors," he said.
The vast majority of the out-of-state troops will be sent to New Mexico and Arizona, whose Guard forces are far smaller than those in neighboring California and Texas.
As part of a border security initiative unveiled in May, President Bush announced plans to significantly boost National Guard troop presence along the Mexican border. The vast majority of Guard members deployed to the border are on three-week assignments, which will take the place of the annual two-week training exercises required of Guard units.
While roughly 40 percent of the soldiers will carry side-arms and other weapons for self-protection, Blum stressed that the troops are "not a show of force." Their missions include aerial reconnaissance and tactical infrastructure maintenance and improvements.
The Pentagon has not yet approved the Guard's participation in intelligence analysis, though Blum said he expects officials to eventually sign off on that mission. By law, the military cannot collect intelligence on U.S. citizens, but troops can analyze information collected by law enforcement authorities.