Borderlands

I feel confident that President Bush's bold initiative of putting National Guardmen on the border is nothing more than sop to the conservative base. He needs to do something and putting soldiers on the border will at least make a good photo op.

The lights of Laredo dance on the water
and shine in a young man's eyes.

• The National Guard is untrained for this duty. They will get in the way as much as they will help. In the end, they will be able to do little more than hold the flashlights and clipboards.
• Additional personnel without additional vehicles means they are walking.
  
• The Border Patrol is notorious about protecting its turf. The National Guard will be as welcome as a rash.
• They can't do anything but watch. The Posse Comitatus Act forbids using the Federal Armed Forces in law enforcement functions. The National Guard, under a state governor, can engage in law enforcement; when brought under federal control they cannot unless there is an insurrection. I suspect this is going to be another one of those laws the president will choose to ignore.
  

Who stands on the border and dreams of paradise.
He's heard crazy stories of how people
live over in the promised land.

The National Guard will certainly be carrying their guns, what good is a photo op without guns, but the guns will probably be empty. Can you image the uproar if the miltary shots a Mexican national.

He heard they eat three meals a day,
just across the Rio Grande.
He's got a wife named Maria, and a baby named Rose,
and another one to feed on the way.

I don't see this doing much harm, which by George Bush's standards makes it one of his best policy initiatives. It may have a small impact on immigration, nothing significant. It is applying cosmetics to a porcine. Nothing short of barbwire, landmines, and machine guns will stop the migration back and forth across the southern border that has been going on for generations. To our mutual benefit.

Two willing hands, that couldn't find work today.
He stares at the river and curses the future,
that he can't understand.
He knows the child would have a chance,
just across the Rio Grande.
~ Just Across the Rio Grande by Rebe McEntire

tag: Immigration, Border Security, National Guard