(by Erica Werner and Jacques Billeaud, YahooNews.com) AP, WASHINGTON – Under pressure to take action, President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, pre-empting Republican efforts to force a congressional vote to send the troops.

Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials.

The president’s action comes as chances for comprehensive immigration reform, Obama’s long-stated goal, look increasingly dim in this election year. Obama has been all but compelled to do something since Arizona’s passage of a tough illegal-immigration law thrust the border problem into the public spotlight.

Indeed, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer credited her signing of the controversial new law for compelling Obama to act. Signing the law, Brewer said in a statement, “clearly ignited the talk of action in Washington for the people of Arizona and other border states.”

The National Guard troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and support efforts to block drug trafficking. They will temporarily supplement Border Patrol agents until Customs and Border Protection can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, according to a letter Tuesday from top administration security officials to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich.

In 2006, President George W. Bush sent thousands of troops to the border to perform support duties that tie up immigration agents. But that program has since ended, and politicians in border states have called for troops to be sent to curb human and drug smuggling and to deal with Mexico’s drug violence that has been spilling over into the United States.

The White House released the letter signed by national security adviser James Jones and White House counterterror chief John Brennan not long after Obama met at the Capitol with Republican senators who pressed him on immigration issues, including the question of sending troops to the border.

Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl have been urging such a move, and Republicans planned to try to require it as an amendment to a pending war spending bill.

In a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor, McCain said the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border has “greatly deteriorated.” He called for 6,000 National Guard troops to be sent, and he asked for $250 million more to pay for them.

“I appreciate the additional 1,200 being sent … as well as an additional $500 million, but it’s simply not enough,” McCain said.

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Democrats were considering countering McCain’s amendment with a proposal of their own after disclosure of the administration plans. The White House wasn’t expected to formally send its spending request to Capitol Hill until after the Memorial Day recess, said Kenneth Baer, spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

A military official said Tuesday that details were still being worked out on the troops’ orders and destinations, adding that the timing of their deployment was not yet clear. Also undetermined was which units from which states would deploy.

The Defense Department, which has been jousting with the Homeland Security Department for the better part of a year over the possible deployment, had previously expressed concerns that the troops not be used for law enforcement duties. Pentagon officials are worried about perceptions that the U.S. was militarizing the border.

The administration’s plans appear to use Guard troops only in a supporting role, according to the military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details were still being worked out. Some of the troops will be armed, but others will not.

Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said the situation on the ground now is different from when Bush deployed the Guard.  …  She said the border is more violent and law enforcement is outgunned. She and other lawmakers want the troops to be armed – they were not in the previous deployment.

She said the U.S. needs to “spend what it takes” to secure its border with Mexico.

The Mexican Embassy said Tuesday it hoped the National Guard troops would be used to fight drug cartels and not enforce immigration laws. Mexico has traditionally objected to the use of military forces to control [illegal immigration], saying such measures would criminalize [illegal immigrants] and open the way for potential abuse.

Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, told a group of Spanish-language reporters Tuesday that the National Guard troops would not deal directly with [illegal immigrants].

More than 20,000 Border Patrol agents are deployed now, mostly along the nation’s southern border.

Billeaud reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Suzanne Gamboa, Lolita C. Baldor and Luis Alonso in Washington and Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Copyright ©2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. The information contained in this AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Visit news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100526/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_national_guard_border for the original post.

Questions

1. Why did President Obama this week order 1,200 National Guard troops be sent to the U.S.-Mexico border to boost security?

2. How much money will the President request Congress approve for border protection and law enforcement activities?

3. a) What activities/responsibilities/duties will the National Guard troops carry out while deployed on the border?
b) The reporter states (in para. 14) that some of the troops will be armed, but others will not.  Do you think unarmed troops should be used at the border? Explain your answer.

4. What have politicians in border states called for National Guard troops to do?

5. How did Arizona Senator John McCain react to the President’s order to deploy 1,200 troops to the border?

6. How is the situation in border areas different now compared to when President Bush deployed the National Guard, according to Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords?

7. The Obama administration believes that a reform of federal immigration law needs to happen before addressing the illegal immigration in individual states. It is assumed that he ordered troops to be deployed because of a huge public outcry. Do you support the deployment of National Guard troops to assist Border Patrol in securing the border? Explain your answer.

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