Guard the Border

PBS' Newshour had an interesting panel discussion on the administration's plans to use National Guard troops to reduce illegal immigration. Former Pentagon official Lawrence Korb suggested what I had suspected as a lay person, that the move was largely symbolic - he thought you'd need 50-60,000 troops to make a difference. Brig Gen David McGinnis, a 29-year veteran and former Director of strategic plans and analysis, thought 6,000 troops was doable, but suggested that the approach used by the present administration wasn't very smart, and that allowing the National Guard to develop a solution using technology such as the use of sensors would have been much more effective.

All this is window dressing. President Bush and every realistic politician knows we aren't going to stop illegal immigration as long as life is as miserable in Mexico, and jobs are so available in the US of A. Bush probably wants to give some to get some. No problem with that, except I don't see a guest worker program passing through the House and Senate any time soon. That's the incredible nature of Washington - a lot of talk and no action!