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# Obama: Guardsmen can aid intelligence, interdiction at border

By Lisa DanielAmerican Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, - An agreement to send hundreds of additional NationalGuardsmen to the southwestern U.S. border is one part of a comprehensiveapproach needed for immigration reform, President Barack Obama said today.

Obama spoke briefly to reporters about his decision announced earlier thisweek to authorize as many as 1,200 Guard members to the border during a WhiteHouse news conference that had focused on the oil spill off the Louisianacoast.

Asked by a reporter about the Guard-deployment plan in light of a new Arizonalaw to crack down on illegal immigration, Obama said the plan was shaped lastyear.

"So this is not simply in response to the Arizona law, the president said.The plan became public earlier this week after Obama met with Arizona Sen.John McCain, who has requested more federal resources along the border.

Obama called immigration "inherently the job of the federal government," andsaid sending Guardsmen would be a basic step in securing the border beforeother reforms are implemented through legislation.

"I don't see these issues solely in isolation," Obama said of the layers ofconcerns along the border. "We're not going to solve the problem solely bysending National Guard troops down there. We're going to do it by creating afair and humane immigration framework."

National Guard troops can help with intelligence work, drug and humantrafficking interdiction, and relieving border guards on security tasks sothey can do more law enforcement, the president said. "So there are a lot offunctions that they can carry out that helps leverage and increase theresources available in this area," he said.

In 2006, about 6,000 National Guard members participated in Operation JumpStart in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. In accordance withfederal law, Guardsmen do not serve in direct law enforcement roles, butprovide reinforcement to the U.S. Border Patrol. Their missions includedengineering, aviation, entry identification teams and a wide range oftechnical, logistical and administrative support.

National Security Advisor James L. Jones and Deputy National Security Advisorfor Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and Presidential Assistant John O.Brennan sent a May 25 letter to Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of theSenate Armed Services Committee, explaining the administration's decision notto send a specific number of Guardsmen, as one Senate amendment calls for.More than 300 National Guardsmen already are working in counternarcotics dutyalong the border, they wrote, and more than $1 billion has been secured todeal with drugs and violence along the border.

In authorizing as many as 1,200 Guardsmen to address "evolving border-relatedchallenges," the administration is avoiding deploying an arbitrary number ofpersonnel, the letter says.

"The president is committed to a strategic approach, consisting of arequirements-based, temporary utilization of up to 1,200 additional NationalGuard troops to bridge to longer-term enhancements in border protection and[federal] law enforcement personnel," the letter says.

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