Buenos Aires Herald
National Guard to leave Mexico border in June
More than a thousand National Guard troops brought in last year to shore security on the US-Mexico border will go home in June, authorities said yesterday.
President Barack Obama's administration provided 1,200 National Guard troops to back up Border Patrol agents while the government hired more federal border and immigration police and bought additional equipment.
The troops have helped agents gather intelligence as well as providing surveillance and reconnaissance support since they began their deployment last August, US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mark Qualia said.
The Guard have helped seize over 14,000 pounds of drugs and contributed to the apprehension of 7,000 illegal immigrants, US Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler said.
Shortly after the first troops began their deployment last August, Obama signed a bill with $600 million in funding to beef up border security.
It provided funds to hire 1,500 additional federal border police, customs inspectors and investigators, as well as two additional unmanned surveillance drones and improved tactical communications systems, Chandler said.
It was not immediately clear how many new border security agents have been hired.
Despite the additional resources, Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer spoke out against the troop drawdown this week, calling it "inexplicable and inexcusable," The Arizona Republic newspaper reported.
Last month Brewer sued the Obama administration, charging it had failed to secure the porous southwest border.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/62015/national-guard-to-leave-mexico-border-in-june
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