Plan for new border troops outlined in Arizona meeting

Obama administration officials told Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and the Arizona attorney general Monday that 524 of the 1,200 National Guard troops headed to the U.S.-Mexico border will be deployed in the state by August or September.

Another 224 troops will head to California, 72 to New Mexico and 250 to Texas, a spokeswoman for Giffords told the Associated Press. A national liaison office will draw another 130 troops.

Giffords and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, also a Democrat, met in Tucson, Ariz., with dozens of law enforcement officials, community leaders and federal officials, including John Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said the troops headed for the border in Arizona are being trained for deployment in August, and Goddard said two drone aircraft will be used in Arizona. Goddard called the commitment a first step.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, was not happy with the deployment plan, saying "only about 20 percent of these personnel will end up in Texas, which has 64 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border."