Obama orders 1,200 Guard troops to border

$500 million also sought to improve protection, law enforcement

Ross D. Franklin / AP file

A United States National Guard unit patrols the Arizona-Mexico border in Sasabe, Ariz., in this Jan. 19, 2007, file photo. President Obama on Tuesday pledged 1,200 National Guardsman but Arizona's two senators say that's not enough.

msnbc.com news services

updated 2 hours, 29 minutes ago

TUCSON, Ariz. - President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, pre-empting Republican plans to try to force votes on such a deployment. 

Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials.

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The president announced the deployment shortly after he returned from lunch with the 41-member Senate Republican Caucus, who told him that U.S. borders first need to be secured before work could start on a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration laws.  Arizona's two Republican senators said the deployment wasn't enough.

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What We Shouldn't Be Doing to 'Help' Mexico

By Theodore Bromund & Ray Walser

 - FOXNews.com

President Calderón deserves American support. But not at the cost of American liberties.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón is in Washington for a two day state visit from May 19-20. He and President Obama have a lot to talk about, ranging from reaffirming a shared commitment to the North American Free Trade Agreement to the vital need for both countries to emphasize competitiveness, technological innovation, and creative entrepreneurship. In Mexico, these policies will increase growth and employment and reduce the economic pressures that drive illegal immigration across the U.S. border.

Reuters

But front and center in the visit will be President Calderón’s battle with the deadly Mexican drug cartels. This battle has so far claimed over 22,000 Mexican lives since 2006. Under President Bush, the U.S. launched the Merida Initiative, which has delivered aircraft, police training, computers, and drug detection machinery to Mexico’s federal police. Because Mexico’s problems affect the U.S., the Initiative was a wise response, and both Presidents should seek to build upon it.

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Calderon Criticism of Arizona Law Overlooks Mexico's Tough Immigration Policy

AP2010

May 19: Mexico's President Felipe Calderon at a 

joint news conference with President Obama at the White House.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has been ripping into Arizona's immigration law as he tours Washington -- while appearing to disregard the way his own country cracks down on immigrants along Mexico's southern border.

Mexico repeatedly has been cited by human rights groups for abusing or turning a blind eye to the abuse of migrants from Central America. Until recently, Mexican law made illegal immigration a criminal offense -- anyone arrested for the violation could be fined, imprisoned for up to two years and deported. Mexican lawmakers changed that in 2008 to make illegal immigration a civil violation like it is in the United States, but their law still reads an awful lot like Arizona's.

Arizona's policy, which Calderon derided on Wednesday as "discriminatory" and assailed again on Thursday, requires law enforcement to try to determine the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant -- provided they are already in contact with that person. They can't randomly stop people and demand papers and the law prohibits racial profiling.

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Fox News Poll: States Should Have Right To Make Immigration Laws

By Dana Blanton

 - FOXNews.com

Amid the ongoing controversy over Arizona's new immigration law, voters by a 2-to-1 margin think individual states should have the right to make their own immigration laws. And a majority of voters would like their own state to follow Arizona's lead.

Amid the ongoing controversy over Arizona's new immigration law, voters by a 2-to-1 margin think individual states should have the right to make their own immigration laws. And a majority of voters would like their own state to follow Arizona's lead.

A Fox News poll finds 65 percent of American voters think states should have right to make their own immigration laws and protect their borders "if they believe the federal government has failed to act," while 32 percent disagree. Moreover, a 52 percent majority favors their own state passing a bill similar to Arizona’s new immigration law. 

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Mexico president calls Arizona’s new law discriminatory

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

U.S. President Obama and Mexican President Calderon talk during the official arrival ceremony at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.

 View related photos

 

updated 6:12 p.m. CT, Wed., May 19, 2010

WASHINGTON - Confronting soaring frustration over illegal immigration, President Barack Obama on Wednesday condemned Arizona's crackdown and pushed instead for a federal fix the nation could embrace. He said that will never happen without Republican support, pleading: "I need some help." 

In asking anew for an immigration overhaul, Obama showed solidarity with his guest of honor, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who called Arizona's law discriminatory and warned Mexico would reject any effort to "criminalize migration." The United States and Mexico share a significant economic and political relationship that stands to be damaged the more the nations are at odds over immigration, which affects millions of people on both sides of the border. 

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Barack Obama: Arizona Immigration Law is "Misconceived Action"

Here is what President Barack Obama thinks about the Arizona Immigration Law.