Extension of National Guard Deployment on Border Cannot be Justified

News outlets have reported that the Obama Administration will extend the mission of 1,200 National Guard troops that were deployed on the southwest border last summer. The administration has extended the deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops along the Southwest border for an additional three months. The troops sent to assist the Border Patrol last August were scheduled to withdraw at the end of June, but have been ordered to remain in place until Sept. 30.

The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan pro-immigrant advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.

“We are disappointed that the Administration has acquiesced to the shrill voices who have repeatedly called for more and more enforcement resources at the border, regardless of cost or need. In extending the National Guard mission on the border, the Administration appears to be undermining its own efforts to underline the facts showing that the border is safer and more secure, and that we now need to focus on fixing our broken immigration system.

As the President himself said in a recent speech in El Paso, Texas, there are opponents of immigration reform who will never be satisfied with the level of immigration enforcement in place. They will never be satisfied with the number of Border Patrol on the border. They will never be satisfied with the length and height of the border fence. No matter how safe our border communities have become, the opponents of reform will continue to move the goal posts.

The President knows that we cannot enforce our way to a functioning immigration system. Fixing our dysfunctional immigration system means, in addition to enforcement, reforming our outdated admission system to facilitate legal immigration and finding a realistic way for the millions of undocumented immigrants now living and working in our country to gain legal status by registering with the government, getting a criminal background check, learning English, and paying taxes.

In a recent appearance before Congress, Deputy Border Patrol Chief Ronald Vitiello, referring to the new Border Patrol agents hired since last summer, said “we feel we are ready” to replace the National Guard soldiers that were temporarily deployed. To keep those 1,200 troops on the border another three months, as the Administration is contemplating, will cost taxpayers more than $25 million dollars. This expense comes in addition to the staggering costs of maintaining the largest-ever Border Patrol force along the U.S.-Mexico Border, plus all the technology and support from other agencies deployed at our borders. With our enormous budget deficit and a protracted fight over raising the debt ceiling, this expense cannot be justified.

It’s time the President set a goal post of his own, and stop acquiescing to a minority of lawmakers who will continue to find excuses to avoid doing the hard work of fixing our broken immigration system.”