Division over Bush’s border plan

So President Bush wants to send National Guard troops to the border with Mexico (May 16). Isn’t this the same National Guard that is overstretched and struggling to recruit and retain soldiers?

This isn’t the first time a president has sent military forces to the border to do a job for which they are not trained. President Clinton did that in the 1990s, and the one identifiable result was the pointless killing of an American teenager by a Marine in 1997. The Pentagon report on that event concluded that policing the border was the wrong mission for the military.

But there are no problems that this president thinks he can’t solve with the military. In the end, the troops will not solve the problem and will probably create problems of their own. But Bush has to look as if he is doing something; it is an election year.

THOMAS M. HEANEY

Quincy, Calif.

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Bush’s prime-time speech was designed to divert attention from the fact that his fiscal year 2006 budget prevented the deployment of enough Border Patrol agents. The National Intelligence Reform Act, signed in late 2004, included the requirement to add 10,000 Border Patrol agents over five years. Bush’s 2006 budget allocated enough money for only 210 more.

Sending our already strained National Guard to the border is designed to put on a show for the TV news cameras. Think of the visuals. The president can go down and meet with the new recruits. But while Bush is busy staging photo ops on the border, thousands of uninspected cargo containers enter our ports every day. They could be full of immigrants, drugs or nukes.

WILLIAM C. STOSINE

Iowa City, Iowa

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Bush’s empty speech on immigration only exposed his do-nothing policy on the issue for the last five-plus years. The fact that there are an estimated 11 million illegal aliens in this country only testifies to the reality that the administration has not done all in its power to seal our borders. Everything else (amnesty, guest worker programs, etc.) is only window dressing.

The bottom line is that, had it been truly committed to this issue, the administration would have done something -- anything -- years ago.

JACK WOLF

Westwood

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First, Bush sends our troops across oceans to get shot at. Next, he plans to station them along our borders for defense against people who want a better life and who take jobs we won’t do or don’t like doing in the first place. Isn’t that overkill?

We ought to remember that our country was created by immigrants who wanted a better life. Our ancestors are rolling in their graves over our decisions and fears regarding immigration issues. We should be welcoming strangers who want a chance for a fresh start.

JOHN C. WEAVER

Reseda

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The picture on Tuesday’s front page shows a man at the border “looking for a way into San Diego,” saying he has a job there. The job is the problem here. We need to remove the incentive for the man wanting to come here. The government needs to crack down on employers who break the law by hiring these illegals for cheap labor.

JAMES HOPKINS

Long Beach