Posted on 05/17/2006 1:09:42 PM PDT by texas_mrs
A civilian border watch group considers President Bush's crackdown plan on illegal immigration insufficient and is sticking to plans to start putting up a short border security fence on private land along the Mexican border.
On Monday, the president announced his intent to temporarily deploy up to 6,000 National Guard troops to support the U.S. Border Patrol -- but not conduct patrols themselves -- as part of an effort to gain control of the porous southwestern border with Mexico.
In a nationally televised address, Bush endorsed a temporary worker program and said he wants new, secure identification cards for legal foreign workers; would let illegal immigrants with otherwise clean records pay a fine and start along a path to become citizens and would make employers take responsibility for those they hire.
Chris Simcox, the head of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said last month that unless military reserves or the National Guard were deployed to the border and the White House endorsed more secure fencing, his group would begin constructing fencing on private land along the border.
Last week, the group said construction would begin May 27 because it was not anticipating any imminent effort to put troops on the border.
On Tuesday, Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair reiterated that position, despite the president's announcement to have guardsmen fill in on some behind-the-lines Border Patrol jobs while that agency's force is expanded by 6,000 by 2008.
"This is a token deployment of unarmed and grossly inadequate numbers of National Guardsmen to the border, placing them in the same demoralizing position as the Border Patrol ... outmanned and outgunned against the international crime cartels," Hair said.
"We're now more determined than ever to build it, because this is not by any means putting troops on the border. It's adding more people to the mix who will not be in position to do actual patrols," Hair added.
Hair said the plan remains to build 50 to 150 feet of a double fence on a privately owned ranch over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Nearly 1,000 Minuteman volunteers had signed up on the group's Web site, but probably 300 to 350 will be used to work on the fencing, according to Hair.
Others who turn out at a gathering point in southeastern Arizona will help set up stationary observation posts Friday through Monday along a stretch of the border with Mexico. The observers will watch for and report illegal border crossers to the Border Patrol.
Hair said the president could well be placing those National Guard troops who are to be assigned to build roads along the border in a perilous situation, where they potentially could come under fire from criminal elements across the international boundary.
"From everything we can tell, they're going to be unarmed," she said. "Who will guard the National Guard? If it's the Border Patrol, doesn't that defeat the idea of sending troops to the border in the first place?"
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
As they should, Bush is plan is a joke
As they should, Bush's plan is a joke
Sending the Guard down there to do nothing but advise is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. This is simply pandering to Vicente Fox who would throw a media hissy fit if any of his countrymen were "captured by the US Military".
What a crock.
Are we armed on the N-S Korean border?
The Republican Party is trying to pacify its base, and keep the Mexicans and the MSM happy at the same time.
It won't work. The GOP is setting itself up for a huge loss in November. Many, many conservative are unhappy. I think that lots won't vote.
"Are we armed on the N-S Korean border?"
Of course not! We are using drones, "virtual fences and high tech camera's in Korea. (Not)
Unarmed National Guard asounds so Clinton like it is really dissapointing that the idea came from A republican. Nothing more embarrassing to a Soldier than guarding something unarmed. The idea is that if Soldiers are needed for anything other than a natural disaster, their job more than likely requires them to be armed. If that isn't the case, then why not hire a bunch of mall security guards to watch them cross over!
I think that it might be a good idea for many Minute Men fences to be put up. What if the Minute Men came up with a plan to put up fences on private property up and down our southern border. I'd volunteer to work, I bet thousands more would too.
The Senate just voted overwhelmingly to build a fence and barriers...
Bush ordered the National Guard down there...
Kinda takes both arguements away from the Minutemen.
NOW, maybe they will be cooperative instead of combative.
The Minute men...aren't their sixty seconds about up?
Sending unarmed, non-patrolling NG troops to the border reminds of how unarmed NG troops were sent to the airports after 9/11.
Yeah but I see it coming from miles away..
The state, local, or federal government will say the fence has not been appoved due to environmental impact and the Minute Men will be in violation of the law.
They should do it anyway.
Give the minutementhe money for building the wall and they will quadruple the length.
Plus git er done a lot sooner.
The Senate just voted overwhelmingly to build a fence and barriers...
Bush ordered the National Guard down there...
Kinda takes both arguements away from the Minutemen.
NOW, maybe they will be cooperative instead of combative.
YEAH, A WHOLE 370 MILES OF FENCE. GREAT. EVER HEAR OF JUST WALKING AROUND THE END OF THE FENCES. I DON'T THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE THAT STUPID. DO YOU?
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