US National Guard Seals Mexican Border

US customs and border protection agents who work along the Mexican border in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas will soon be getting some help from the National Guard.

About 1,200 soldiers from the US National Guard are to be deployed along the border with Mexico from 1 August to try to tackle the twin problems of illegal immigration and drug-smuggling.

About half of the troops are to be sent to Arizona, which is at the centre of the national debate over illegal immigration. The state is planning to introduce a law next week to crack down on people entering unlawfully.

There is a 30ft steel fence running along much of the US border, including the section that runs through Arizona, but much of the area is so remote that those crossing illegally can easily put up ladders and climb over. Drug cartels are even more brazen, occasionally ramming the fence in heavily armoured jeeps.

Border guards tend to be deployed not along the border but half a mile or more back, monitoring crossings with a view to picking up illegal immigrants later. The troops Obama is sending will concentrate on patrolling the fence.

By: Shelldrake