National Guard soldiers participate in a formation marking the official end of a year-long deployment to Afghanistan on May 19 at the Texas armory in Weslaco, Texas. Some of the troops are ready to help out on the U.S.-Mexico border. Others are against the idea. Photo by The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Monday signaled strong support for President Bush's plan to deploy National Guard troops along the Mexican border in a bid to deter illegal immigrants.
Voting 83-10, senators approved an amendment by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., that codifies sending the military to complement Border Patrol officers policing the region.
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The amendment was added to a comprehensive immigration bill that Senate leaders said they expected to complete this week. The bill aims to give illegal immigrants already in the United States the opportunity to earn citizenship eventually while tightening border security to limit new arrivals.
Since Bush has the authority to call up the National Guard by executive order, the vote on Ensign's amendment was largely symbolic. It authorizes governors to order Guard units to the border with Pentagon approval and ensures the government will pay the bills.
Deploying the National Guard "is an important step toward making sure we know who is coming into the country, to make sure terrorists aren't coming into the country," Ensign said during a short debate.
The Nevadan's amendment authorized many parts of the Bush plan to station up to 6,000 members of the Guard near the border in California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Ensign had been among lawmakers and officials in border states prodding the Bush administration to utilize troops. The Nevadan said he promoted the idea during a trip to Yuma, Ariz., last month where he spoke with border guards.
Under the Bush plan, about two-thirds of the National Guard personnel would rotate on short-term deployments as part of their 21-day annual training while a third consisting of command officers would be there full time to manage the force.
Bush, who announced his intentions on May 15, said the Guard's initial commitment would be one year.
Ensign said the interim move would buy time for the Border Patrol to train more agents.
"It is going to take us years to get enough Border Patrol agents down there and in the meantime what we need is to have the National Guard supplement and multiply the force," he said.
Troops would not participate in policing or making arrests but would be authorized to build roads and fences, gather intelligence, serve as translators and truck drivers and provide emergency medical assistance to people stranded in weather extremes.
"This is something the National Guard is very well trained to do," Ensign said of the allowable tasks that were written into the legislation.
"When they are on the border, the National Guard can fulfill that mission which will free up the Border Patrol to perform some of the other functions of their duties, like arrest and detention," Ensign said.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., voted for the amendment.
"Sen. Reid believes we should use all appropriate tools to strengthen border security," spokeswoman Sharyn Stein said. "The Ensign amendment is a common-sense measure that will allow the National Guard to provide short-term support to Border Patrol officers without undermining the Guard's other important responsibilities."
Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., expressed reservations. He said Congress should not specify what activities that Guard members could conduct or how long they should remain stationed at the border.
The Senate debated two immigration amendments on Monday. In contrast to the Guard-related provision, a proposal to assure identical wage floors for two groups of immigrant farm workers sparked a spirited debate.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said farm workers who hold temporary visas should be paid along the same lines as up to 1.5 million future agriculture laborers under a new program envisioned in the legislation.
He said both groups should be paid whichever was higher, the minimum wage or the prevailing wage, a calculation that takes into account skill, experience and the geographical area where the job exists. "The workers (in the two groups) are mostly the same," Chambliss said, adding that most come from Mexico and are in the United States to earn money to support their families.
Critics argued that Chambliss' proposal would result in a reduction in already low wages. "They'll be treated the same, but they'll be treated shabbily," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
But Chambliss, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, told Kennedy and others that when it came to 40,000 temporary workers already in the country, "you're reducing their wages immediately."
