Soldiers to the Southwest

The lead article in today’s New York Times, titled “National Guard will be Deployed to Aid at Border,” describes President Obama’s decision to send 1,200 troops to the border to combat illegal drug trafficking and immigration. The moved was not announced with great fanfare but leaked through a Democratic candidate for the House in Arizona.

Predictably, Senator McCain said the deployment was inadequate, but several Democrats and Republicans rushed to take credit for the moving including the Republican Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, and her Democratic opponent, Teddy Goddard.

The article notes that President Bush had as many as 6,000 troops at the border who arrested 162,000 illegal immigrants and confiscated $69,000 and 305,000 pounds of illicit drugs.

Meanwhile, the furor over illegal immigration continues as well as the boycotts of Arizona due to their draconian law allowing police to demand the production of papers proving residency by anyone they stop for other reasons and deem suspicious.

President Obama’s action comes on the heels of a major debate in Congress over immigration reform and, in my opinion, is designed to head off demands to secure the border first. This decision may reflect political realities of the upcoming debate as well as a reaction to genuine need.

We’ll see how the situation develops. The article noted that the troops are not specifically trained to arrest people and would not do so.