Token gesture? Obama authorizes 1,200 troops to the border

Could it be that Obama might be seeing the light of day on Arizona’s problems? He has authorized 1,200 National Guard troops to the Arizona border. 

New York Times: LOS ANGELES — President Obama will send up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the Southwest border and seek increased spending on law enforcement there to combat drug smuggling after demands from Republican and Democratic lawmakers that border security be tightened…

The troops will be stationed in the four border states for a year, White House officials said. It is not certain when they will arrive, the officials said.

The troops will join a few hundred members of the Guard already assigned there to help the police hunt for drug smugglers. The additional troops will provide support to law enforcement officers by helping observe and monitor traffic between official border crossings. They will also help analyze trafficking patterns in the hope of intercepting illegal drug shipments…

The soldiers will not directly make arrests of border crossers and smugglers, something they are not trained to do. 

In typical Obama fashion, this is more about appearances than actually fixing the problem. 1,200 National Guard troops on the Arizona border alone might make an impact, but 1,200 troops over four states is not even a spit in the bucket.

At any rate, this token gesture is an acknowledgement that Arizona and Governor Brewer were right along. Now that polls show that Hispanic voters in the west have swung toward Democrats, Obama and the Democrats have less reason to hold their unpopular positions. I am sure they all will be trying to sell themselves as tough on border security after this maneuver.

Obama’s token gesture with the 1,200 troops has prompted Mexico to add their two cents (like we give a damn). 

Regarding the Administration’s decision to send 1,200 National Guard servicemen to the US Southern border, the Government of Mexico trusts that this decision will help to channel additional US resources to enhance efforts to prevent the illegal flows of weapons and bulk cash into Mexico, which provide organized crime with its firepower and its ability to corrupt.

Additionally, the Government of Mexico expects that National Guard personnel will strengthen US operations in the fight against transnational organized crime that operates on both sides of our common border and that it will not, in accordance to its legal obligations, conduct activities directly linked to the enforcement of immigration laws. 

How’s that for chutzpah? Mexico cannot police the outflow from its own border, but is going to dictate how we police ours. I cannot wait until we an a Pro-American president back in the White House who will actually tell Mexico what time it is.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The New York Times

Via: Mexican Foreign Ministry

Via: Public Policy Polling