Operation Jump Start, the name given to the National Guard’s mission to support the Border Patrol on the U.S. Southern border will soon be over.  All Guard members will be withdrawn by July 15.  Guard members were posted there in 2006 and reached a peak force of about 6,000.

The Guard’s purpose was not to enforce the immigration laws, but only to support the Border Patrol through surveillance, transportation, observation, and to help with infrastructure projects and construction; the Guard members were never armed. 

Initially critical of what was termed excessive militarization of the border, Governors Rick Perry of Texas and California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger did sign the agreement to have the troops in their states. Now they are singing the praises of the Guard for helping to toughen the borderlands.

Schwarzenegger has joined with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona in sending a letter to Capitol Hill leaders asking to extend the Guard’s presence. "It is irresponsible to phase out the current support of the National Guard without the infrastructure and full-time personnel to fill the gap," the letter said. Texas Gov. Rick Perry lobbied Washington as well, to keep the soldiers in his state that has 1,255 miles of the 1,950-mile U.S. border with Mexico.

With out-of-control illegal immigration and Congress ignoring the matter, these governors are looking for help, saying the high-tech “virtual” fence promised by the Bush administration is a complete failure and would in no way replace the departing Guard.

Governor Napolitano’s deputy chief of staff Jeanine L’Ecuyer said, “Why stop when you’re just beginning to get control of the situation?” And Allison Castle from Texas Governor Perry’s office said, “There’s still a tremendous amount of illegal activity that’s taking place. Since March 2006, more than 500 migrants from ‘known terrorist countries’ such as Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan were caught entering Texas illegally from Mexico.”

These governors certainly have something to worry about, given the drug wars and violence that are endemic just on the other side of the border.

It’s interesting to note that President Bush, who appeared to be solidly in favor of sending the Guard to protect the border in 2006, has now just as solidly rejected the states’ requests to prolong the mission. 

And it’s also interesting to note that several versions of the story are already being carried on the Hispanic Tip website, so the draw down has been duly noted.
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