Monday, June 05, 2006

Utah National Guard the first to arrive at US-Mexican border

I like the sound of this...

Military bulldozers, road graders and other heavy equipment rumbled along the Mexican border early Monday as more than 50 National Guardsmen from Utah became the first unit to get to work under President Bush's crackdown on illegal immigration.

The soldiers with the 116th Construction Support Equipment Company rolled out at 3:45 a.m. for more than two weeks of duty. They will improve a dirt road running parallel along the border, reinforce a fence and wire new lighting to help the Border Patrol spot illegal immigrants trying to come across.

"It's exciting to do something that's relevant to the safety of the United States," said Capt. Talon Greeff, the unit's commander. "There is a sense of excitement when you are doing something real-world."


The Guard is there to reinforce the border in a very literal sense, improving the border as a structure, as a means of preventing entry to the US. They won't be driving around in armored vehicles with weapons on the ready (unfortunately). But to defend the border, it helps if you can actually see where it is, and if seeing where it is involves lots of fencing, lighting, and guards, then it's a good thing.

California will be sending troops to the border soon as well. Apparently the issue that had prevented it up til now was who would pay for it. Schwarzenegger said California refused to pay for it, and was arguing with the Bush administration to get the m to pay for it, which is exactly what happened. So California has 1,000 National Guardsmen heading to the border by July 15th (because we wouldn't want to rush to protect ourselves or anything...)

UPDATE @ 3:03pm: HotAir also posted on this story, but AllahPundit brings it up in the context of another facet of the issue: how many of the illegals have overstayed their visas and who would Jesus legalize?