news Arizona lawmakers urge troops to secure Mexico border

[rwilli1]

Arizona lawmakers urge troops to secure Mexico border



1 hour, 20 minutes ago





By Tim Gaynor


PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona's governor and two U.S. senators urged the federal government on Monday to send hundreds of additional troops to secure the porous Mexican border, along which ruthless drug cartels are waging bloody turf wars.

The violence has gained high-level attention in both the United States and Mexico in recent months, amid concerns that it is bleeding into U.S. border states.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer asked for 250 more National Guard troops to secure the desert state's border.

"We need additional National Guard ... if we don't secure our border ... we are at ... risk," the Republican governor told a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs meeting in Phoenix.

President Barack Obama visited Mexico last week and pledged to help President Felipe Calderon in his fight against the cartels, who killed 6,300 people in Mexico last year.

Obama's administration recently announced additional funding and federal agents to curb border crime, and has said it is considering plans to send troops, probably National Guard reserves, in case of a broad outbreak of violence.

Arizona Senator John McCain, a Republican defeated by the Democrat Obama in the November 2008 presidential election, also called on Washington to allocate additional resources including troops to the border.

"Additional federal action is urgently needed, and failure to do more puts at risk the security and safety of our citizens each and every day," McCain told the hearing.

Senator Jon Kyl, another Arizona Republican, said resources including Border Patrol check points on highways and greater resources for the justice system in the state were also needed. "It is a whole system that needs to be properly resourced," he told Reuters before the hearing.

Brewer wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to request additional troops earlier this year, but the request was denied. The state has 150 troops deployed in support roles, she said.

In 2006, former President George W. Bush sent National Guard troops to the border states as part of a temporary operation to boost security. The operation ended last year.

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor, editing by Patricia Zengerle)

[greenweed]

yes im hearing its more then the drug war on the boarder!! they been finding prayer cloths!! that means we have some posers acting like there Mexican coming across!! 911 all over again!! its very hard to tell a difference i hope thy get it stopped!! we dont need it right now 911 was enough!! the u.s has been playing it down i hope its not to late!!