OBAMA DEPLOYING 1,200 GUARD TROOPS TO BORDER, WANTS $500M TO FUND
PLAN

EL PASO -- President Barack Obama wants to send 1,200 soldiers and
$500 million more to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Obama wants to help Mexico right itself from a drug war while assuring
U.S. citizens that the border is secure. The White House staff on
Tuesday announced the deployment plan, but would not say when or where
on the border soldiers would serve.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said he received an overview of
the plan Tuesday morning. He expects to know the specifics by
Thursday, when Congress considers Obama's request for emergency funding.

"We are going to track the plan and weigh in on it because of the
National Guard aspect," said Reyes, chairman of the U.S. House
Intelligence Committee. "The important thing here is that there is a
big difference between using the National Guard on the border in a
training capacity, as opposed to just deploying soldiers to the border.

"This is a dual request. We get them to help with efforts on the
border, and they get training that will help them when they go overseas."

Under the plan, soldiers would be deployed to the 2,000-mile border in
a support role only. They would work with law enforcement agencies
that already patrol the border.

The National Guard's duties would be coordinated by Joint Task
Force-North, a Department of Defense intelligence center based at Fort
Bliss. The task force already supports federal law enforcement agencies.

Reyes said he was backing the president's funding request because it
includes an additional $500 million for border security. Reyes and the
other border congressmen recently requested that amount in emergency
funding for the border.

The border contingent asked for $200 million to support law
enforcement communications in remote areas. It also wants $50 million
for Operation Stonegarden, which would be used to fight border-related
violence, weapons and drug trafficking.

An additional $170 million would be used to hire and retain Customs
and Border Protection agents. An additional $32 million would be used
to hire 207 Border Patrol agents, and $40 million would go for training.

U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, said he too supports the proposal
but wants to make sure the soldiers stay within their assigned
mission. Rodriguez represents a part of eastern El Paso County, as
well as all of Hudspeth County, including Fort Hancock. Small Mexican
towns near Fort Hancock were awash in violence earlier this year.

"Although it's not clear exactly where these troops will end up, we
know they will have a narrowly defined mission and will be at our
borders for the express purpose of shoring up existing law enforcement
efforts," Rodriguez said. "Communities like Fort Hancock are living
with fear, and that is not acceptable. I am glad that the White House
has acknowledged the very real crisis and is sending support troops to
the region."

Two Texas Republicans, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Gov. Rick Perry, were
not as supportive.

Perry still wants the president to send 1,000 soldiers exclusively to
the Texas-Mexico border, said his spokeswoman, Katherine Cesinger.

"We've not received any specifics about the latest reports or any
official word regarding Governor Perry's request," she said. "But we
remain hopeful that the federal government will step up and secure our
international border by providing the resources we've requested,
including 1,000 Title 32 National Guardsmen to support civilian law
enforcement along the Texas-Mexico border."

Cornyn said Obama's proposal does not do enough.

"Our children are living in fear, but the Obama White House is living
in denial," Cornyn said. "The president must make border security a
priority, not an afterthought or an empty talking point."

Cornyn has filed an amendment to the emergency funding proposal that
includes more than $200 million for equipment and technology for
agencies on the border. He also wants $500 million for new equipment
and more than $340 million to hire more federal agents that would be
deployed along the border.

Luna County, N.M., Sheriff Raymond Cobos said securing the border is
not about sending more soldiers, agents or equipment. Rather, he said,
but is about having a specific plan.

"If I were someone making decisions, I would study what is working
where before deploying anyone," he said. "What works in California may
not work here, and what works here in Deming might work in Santa
Teresa. You can't just send troops to the border and expect everything
to stop."

Cobos said Luna County, which includes Deming and Columbus, has not
seen violence from Mexico spill over.

"Just like in El Paso, we are safe," he said.

El Paso Mayor John Cook on Tuesday was in Charleston, S.C., for a
meeting of the Southwest Border Security Task Force when he learned of
Obama's plan.

Cook too was awaiting more details. He said he would approve of using
the National Guard for surveillance and communications, but not border
enforcement.

Soldiers are trained for military action, not to make sure people do
not cross the border illegally, said Cook, mayor of the largest U.S.
city on the Mexican border.

Since 2004, the federal government has built 130 miles of border fence
at $3 million a mile in the El Paso region, Cook said. It also has
added greatly to the ranks of Border Patrol agents.

"We're asking for additional dollars to be sent to the ports of
entry," Cook said. "We really haven't increased the number of customs
inspectors."