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 Editorials | Opinions | April 2008 
Bring Guard Home From Border
 MediaNews
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Governors from three states, including California's Arnold Schwarzenegger, are pushing Congress to extend and fully fund the National Guard's stay along the Mexican border. Guard soldiers have been supplementing the short-handed Border Patrol since the summer of 2006, a program called Operation Jump Start, and soldiers were scheduled to depart in mid-July.
The Guard was supposed to be there in non-enforcement activities, yet it has been involved in numerous drug busts having nothing to do with illegal immigrants.
While the Guard is suppose to watch the backs of Border Patrol agents, soldiers spent plenty of time building roads and putting up fences.
No wonder why these governors want Guardsmen to stay, who wouldn't want free labor and drug enforcement provided by the federal government?
We believe it's time the Guard goes back to what it's suppose to do — provide security during times of emergencies and disasters. It's bad enough we stretched the Guard halfway across the world in Iraq, much less waste the soldiers' time here.
We agree the Guard did plenty of good while patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border, helping arrest as many as 140,000 illegal immigrants, but it's clear the Border Patrol along with Arizona and New Mexico took advantage of the situation.
The Guard helped seize 143 tons of drugs, mainly marijuana, and soldiers helped construct 111 miles of border fencing, and more than 18 miles of new all-weather roads, and maintain and improve more than 570 miles of existing roads.
Through January, the National Guard Bureau spent more than $1 billion on this program, but while this was suppose to buy time to employ more Border Patrol agents, a chunk of the money has instead been spent on infrastructure and drug enforcement.
When the program began, the Border Patrol had 12,000 agents; President Bush assured that 6,000 additional agents would be hired in two years. Time is almost up and the Border Patrol has 15,500 agents although the agency believes Bush's goal will be reached by the end of the year.
The National Guard now has 2,842 soldiers deployed, down from the 6,000 who began the program.
Doing the math, it's clear the Border Patrol can do without the National Guard — the numbers will be up to par by the end of the year. But Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano makes a ridiculous suggestion that since a high-tech "virtual fence" along the border is having problems and may not be operational until 2011, the Guard should stay until then and maybe beyond. For what? Are there more highways to construct? Or maybe the Guard can finish the fence.
We agree the National Guard's presence served our country well and gave the Border Patrol ample time to bring up its numbers. Perhaps some soldiers can be left behind until the end of the year to tie up some loose ends, but ultimately, we think it's time to part ways.
The free ride is over. |
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