Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu said the Obama administration’s decision to extend the deployment of 1,200 U.S. National Guard troops along the U.S. border with Mexico until Sept. 30 is “pandering” and that those numbers “fall far short” of what military power is needed to keep the country safe.Babeu noted, for comparison, the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to help defend it against North Korean aggression; U.S. troops have been stationed in South Korea for 58 years.
Babeu is the sheriff of Pinal County in southern Arizona and is on the frontlines against illegal immigration, human traffickers, drug smugglers, and potential terrorists. He was named the 2011 National Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriff’s Association on Sunday, June 19.
“What are we doing?” Babeu told CNSNews.com by telephone. “We need 6,000 armed soldiers on our border to protect America. Homeland Security starts at home.” He was talking about the National Guard.
Babeu said that only 520 guardsmen are deployed in Arizona, a state with a 276-mile border with Mexico and the state that has, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the greatest influx of illegal aliens. In 2010, approximately 212,000 illegal aliens were seized in the Tucson sector of Arizona – or 47 percent of all illegal aliens taken into custody.
“The gravest national security risk that we face is right here with the unsecure border with Mexico,” Babeu said. “Right from the beginning, these 1,200 [National Guard] soldiers fall far short from what’s really, truly needed to achieve a secure border.”
Babeu said that 6,000 troops should be deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border: 3,000 in Arizona and 1,000 in each of the three other border states for a two-year period.
Babeu also said it was “tremendous” to have received the Sheriff of the Year award, which he said he accepted on behalf of the 700 men and women who work with him, the citizens of Arizona and for the state. Babeu added that he believed the work law enforcement is doing in Arizona also played a role.
“I think it has everything to do with us standing up for America, standing up for the rule of law and not being shouted down by the president and his men trying to make like somehow we’re being un-American for enforcing the law and wanting a secure border,” Babeu said.
He said he thinks President Barack Obama has made race the issue instead of fulfilling his job of protecting the American people by enforcing immigration laws.
“It’s not about race, color or national origin,” Babeu said. “It’s about enforcing the law, Mr. President. That’s our job.”
The White House announced last week that it would extend the deployment for the 1,200 National Guard troops for three more months.
{CNSNews.com/Matzav.com Newscenter}
Why Korea? Because Korea has:
1) A large army, much of which is stationed on the border with South Korea, one of our key allies.
2) Korea has nuclear weapons.
Mexico has no military problems with the US, no atomic bombs, and poses no military threat whatsoever.
I also don’t see what race has to do with the issue. The President isn’t Mexican or Latino. He’s mixed race – Kansas white and Kenyan African. Unless the sheriff really can’t tell the difference between a Latino and someone of mixed European/African descent, he’s just showing his own animosity here.
Yes, the border should be better policed. No, troops aren’t the answer. Soldiers are trained to fight. Border patrol is a specialized skill that is different from military action. It takes a whole different type of training. Let’s train lots more border patrol officers the right way and not look for quick non-fixes.
I support our presence in Korea 100%, but the truth of the matter is that when one country actively promotes efforts among its citizens to invade another country, which is what thr Viente Fox regime did with their booklets, that counts as an act of aggression. We need a dramatically increased presence of law enforcement and boots on the ground on the Mexican border. Regardless of what Amnesty Int’l says, we should not rule out tactics like landmines, electric fences, and other means of keeping out the invaders.
The illegal workers are not invaders. They are not attempting to establish a military presence or to take power in the US. All they want to do is what you and I want – to work and make a living. Their “invasion” consists of being willing to work for less than a native-born American at jobs which are too back-breaking or dangerous to be desirable. Why is the meat-packing industry filled with illegal aliens? It’s dirty, hard and dangerous work and the packing companies know they can get by paying aliens below standard wages.
This is the “invasion of the work ethic.” If you don’t want to work that hard, move to your favorite “welfare state” like Canada or France. Hard-working immigrants built America. We need more of them, not fewer.
BTW a landmine and an electric fence are not in the same ballpark. A landmine is strictly for killing and maiming (children and women too) while an electric fence just keeps people out. Would you like to see the mangled body of a child who died simply because her mother wanted to earn enough money to feed her, because some political opportunists thought it would get them votes to be “tough on illegals?”
Rachamim benei rachamim – since when is wanting to feed your children a capital crime?
The rule of law is the rule of law, and if you illegally enter a country, you should be punished accordingly. Israel has been successful at keeping out Africans, Arabs, and other illegals, America should adopt a similar model- the way Palestinians are dealt with in Medinas Yisroel, so too, should we deal with Mexican invaders. Rachamim bnei rachamim- what about being kind to your own, who are out of work, or who have to pay taxes to subsidize illegals coming here to have children, etc.?
We need a repeal of NAFTA, end all efforts to impose a Noth American Union, and a tough immigration policy, including changing the 14th Amendment to eliminate the anchor baby loophole. We need tough politicans, not bleeding hearts.
Regardless of what is said on this post,the border still MUST be better patrolled. 1000+- troops seems WAY to low a number. This has nothing to do with rachmanus….Borders must be secure. We may want more immigrants. Do we want murderers,rapists and terrorists. If there’s no “filtration” system,what stops them from hopping along? Immigration can be done through the proper legal ways but borders still MUST be secure.