Troops to patrol border, Bush says

The long-term goal is to hire 6,000 more Border Patrol agents.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Monday night he will send as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico to help stop the flood of illegal immigrants, part of an administration drive to win conservative support in Congress for an election-year overhaul of the nation's tattered immigration laws.
"We do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that," the president said in a prime-time address from the Oval Office.
Bush gave strong support to a plan that would give many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States an eventual chance of citizenship -- a move derided by some conservatives as amnesty. He rejected that term.
"It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States and send them across the border," he said. "There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation."
The Guard troops would mostly serve two-week stints before rotating out of the assignment, so keeping the force level at 6,000 over the course of a year could require up to 156,000 troops.
Still, Bush insisted, "The United States is not going to militarize the southern border."
The president timed his speech hours after the Senate began intense debate on an election-year immigration bill. The rare televised, prime-time Oval Office address signified the high stakes for Bush, who has been asking for immigration overhaul since his 2000 campaign.
Temporary
Bush said the National Guard troops would fill in temporarily while the nation's Border Patrol force is expanded. He asked Congress to add 6,000 more Border Patrol agents by the end of his presidency and to add 6,700 more beds to detain illegal immigrants while they are waiting for hearings to determine that they can be sent home.
The Border Patrol would still be responsible for catching and detaining illegal immigrants, with National Guard troops providing intelligence gathering, surveillance and other administrative support. Yet the National Guard troops would still be armed and authorized to use force to protect themselves, said Bush homeland security adviser Fran Townsend.
They are to come from the four border states -- California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas -- but those states' governors may also seek Guard troops from other states. Reaction was mixed among the nation's governors.
Different views
Democrat Ted Kulongoski of Oregon said Guardsmen signed up to fight the war on terror, not to "go and sit on the border of Mexico." And with fire season approaching, he said, "I need our remaining National Guard soldiers to stay in Oregon to protect our forests."
But Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, strongly supported the plan. He said, "If we'd done this years ago, we'd have put a stop to illegal immigration."
Governors would have the option of refusing to send troops, but White House officials said they did not expect that would be a major issue since the federal government would be paying the costs.
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