CNN/AP: 55 Utah Guard arrive in Yuma, AZ, for immigration duty [View All]

Guard arrives in Yuma for immigration duty
Arizona is now the nation's busiest illegal entry point
Saturday, June 3, 2006


Members of the 116th, 1457th and 489th units of the Utah National Guard board a cargo plane Saturday.

PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Fifty-five National Guard members from Utah arrived in Yuma, Arizona, on Saturday as the first troops to be sent to the Arizona-Mexico border in a plan announced by President George W. Bush to crack down on illegal immigration.

The Utah troops were supposed to work on fences and other projects as part of the Guard's long-standing efforts at the Arizona border, officials had said as late as Wednesday.

But their mission has since been folded into Bush's plan to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the four southern border states to help federal immigration agents....

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Under the president's plan, troops would perform support duties that would free up federal authorities to focus on border security. They would not perform significant law enforcement duties.

The Utah troops, who will not carry weapons, will be in Yuma for two weeks installing improved lighting at a border crossing site, extending an existing border fence and building a road, McIntire said....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/03/guard.arizona.ap/index.html