Border security: Feds have to step up funding
March 3, 2009
Not too long ago, National Guard troops were deployed to border areas. They didn't have rifle-toting duties on the boundary line. Rather, they mainly assisted the Border Patrol in support roles such as surveillance, office work, road-building and maintenance, and other jobs that freed agents for other duties.
Written by Editorial, The El Paso Times
Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry talked about border security during a news conference at the Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso.
He brought up a couple of interesting points about border security that, while not exactly new, would benefit by revisiting.
He asked the feds to fund strong border security measures and said he wants 1,000 troops on the border.
"I don't care if they are military, National Guard or customs agents," he said Tuesday. "We're very concerned that the federal government is not funding border security adequately. We must be ready for any contingency."
One concern here is how the troops would be used along the border.
Not too long ago, National Guard troops were deployed to border areas. They didn't have rifle-toting duties on the boundary line. Rather, they mainly assisted the Border Patrol in support roles such as surveillance, office work, road-building and maintenance, and other jobs that freed agents for other duties.
If troops return to the border, it should be in the same kind of support role rather than having them as an armed presence. The shadow of the 1997 shooting of a boy by a Marine on an anti-drug mission near Redford, Texas still lingers.
Border Patrol agents are trained for exactly what their name suggests -- patrolling the border. The job should be left to them.
If there aren't enough Border Patrol agents, train more of them and increase their numbers along the border. It's not a good idea to have relatively untrained personnel tasked with keeping the peace in such a volatile and violent area.
Perry also mentioned concerns about funding for border security.
That funding is the responsibility of the federal government. And the way the president and Congress are tossing money around these days, there's bound to be some available for border security.
But for whatever reason, the feds seem reluctant to address the financial concerns that accompany border security. The border states cannot and should not be expected to shoulder the expensive burden of keeping the border secure.
The escalating violence in Mexico makes it all the more imperative for the feds to step up and adequately fund security on our southern border.
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