Bush Wants Military Border Patrol

(CBS/AP)  President Bush will call for thousands of National Guard troops to be deployed along the Mexico border in support of patrols aimed at keeping out illegal immigrants, White House officials said Sunday on the eve of an Oval Office address announcing the plan.

White House aides worked into the night Sunday to iron out details of the proposal and allay concerns among lawmakers that using troops to man the border would further burden an overextended military.

Two White House officials said Mr. Bush would propose using troops as a stopgap measure while the Border Patrol builds up its resources. The troops would play a supportive role to Border Patrol agents, who would maintain primary responsibility for physically guarding the border.

The officials spoke on a condition of anonymity before the address Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. The officials would not say how many troops Mr. Bush wanted to use, except that it would be in the thousands but less than an estimate of as many as 10,000 being discussed at the Pentagon.

CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan reports the president insists his plan is to only send the National Guard in a support role to help states plug holes along the nation's Southwest border. The White House says the president would not use active duty troops, and the Guard's deployment would only be temporary.

Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, would not confirm that using National Guard troops was the plan but said it was one of the options the president was considering. But he described the same scenario.

"It's not about militarization of the border," Hadley said on CNN's "Late Edition." "It's about assisting the civilian border patrol in doing their job, providing intelligence, providing support, logistics support and training and these sorts of things."

Mr. Bush's National Guard plan is aimed at winning support for broader immigration reform from conservatives in Congress. Mr. Bush's main goal is to allow foreigners to get temporary work permits to take low-paying jobs — an idea favored by the business community. But many conservatives want a tougher approach on illegal immigrants trying to sneak into the country.

About 100 National Guard troops are serving on the border to assist with counter-drug operations, heavy equipment support and other functions.

"I think what it would be is simply expanding the kind of thing that has already been done in the past in order to provide a bit of a stopgap as the Border Patrol build up their capacity to deal with this challenge," Hadley said.

Mr. Bush gave the same message to Mexican President Vicente Fox, who called Sunday to express concern about what he called the possibility of a "militarized" border between the two nations. Mr. Bush assured Fox that any military support would be administrative and logistical and would come from the National Guard and not the Army, according to a news release from Fox's office.

Criticism of the National Guard plan came Sunday from Democrats, but also an important Republican negotiator in the immigration debate — Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. He said National Guard troops cannot secure the border over the long term and that he does not think it is wise even in the short term.

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