Statement By Senator John McCain And Jon Kyl Regarding National Guard Troops On The Southwest Border

Statement

U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) today made the following statement regarding National Guard troops on the southwest border:

"We have been calling on President Obama to deploy National Guard troops to the border since March 2009 and are pleased he has finally started to recognize the essential needs of our Southwest states.

"Though this initial deployment is an important first step, the President is not sending enough troops. We believe it would be very helpful if the President could visit the Mexico-U.S. border so he could see firsthand the threat to the safety of Americans from illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and human smuggling. He could also personally witness the need for additional personnel, technology and infrastructure necessary to secure to the border.

"In 2006, President Bush deployed 6,000 National Guard troops to the Southwest border. We believe the situation on the border is far worse today than it was then due to the escalating violence between the Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican government. For this reason, we need to deploy at least 6,000 National Guard troops to the border region. The fact that President Obama announced today that he will only be sending one-fifth of the troops we believe are required is a weak start and does not demonstrate an understanding of the current situation in the region.

"This morning, we proposed an amendment to fully fund 6,000 National Guard troops to be immediately deployed to the Southwest border and call on the President to support our amendment."

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