Border Security by the National Guard

I'm not sure how this really measures against Posse Comitatus, but then again, I'm thinking it's not necessarily a bad idea. They would be acting in a law enforcement realm, but they wouldn't be working against citizens of the country. Though I'm sure there is a possibility of such a thing happening.

President Bush tried to ease the worries of his Mexican counterpart yesterday as he prepared for a nationally televised address tonight unveiling a plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help seal the nation's southern border against illegal immigrants.

Mexican President Vicente Fox called to express concern over the prospect of militarization of the border, and Bush reassured him that it would be only a temporary measure to bolster overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, the White House said.

"The president made clear that the United States considers Mexico a friend and that what is being considered is not militarization of the border but support of Border Patrol capabilities on a temporary basis by National Guard personnel," said White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri.

I'm trying to understand the concern of the Mexican president. His military has been seen on US property several times in the past year, yet he seems to think that placing our military near his border is an issue? I'd have move sympathy if his government didn't encourage Mexicans to go to the US illegally.

Yet the idea has further stirred an already volatile debate about immigration on both sides of the border even before the president makes his prime-time speech from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. A number of Democrats and even a few key Republicans voiced skepticism or outright opposition to the reported plan yesterday, calling it a politically motivated move that will only further strain units already stretched by duty in Iraq without solving the underlying problem of illegal immigration.

If Bush's plan is politically motivated, what is the motivation of those protesting? No political interests being played out there? Rubbish. Just the act of calling Bush's proposal political stinks of political pandering. But you aren't allowed to question the motivations of those against Bush because he's EVIL!

Then there is the international diplomatic strain with Mexico:

The president's plan could increase the strain with Fox, who has grown disenchanted with Bush's failure to ease immigration rules as promised. Fox for years has pressured Bush to help the 11 million illegal immigrants now in the United States, many of them from Mexico, with little to show for it. In their 15-minute call yesterday, "the president reiterated to President Fox his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform," Tamburri said.

Right. We should ease immigration rules to allow even more illegal immigrants to flood into the country? Maybe we should shut down the border completely and enforce the Mexican immigration quota as being fulfilled for the next 20 years. Would that be better?

I also love the arguments I've been hearing on the cable and broadcast news. They seem to think that the National Guard needs to be trained in how to deal with the illegals. And since they don't have that training that disqualifies them from providing that service. Odd, that these are the same people that were being screamed for to be placed in New Orleans to stop looting, though they don't have training in that part of law enforcement and that would be in contact with US citizens. But that must be a different issue altogether.

I'm sure this will be resolved in an unreasonable manner.