Napolitano wants Guard troops back on border

Gov. Janet Napolitano is going to make a new push to put National Guard troops back along the border. But she emphasized Friday she is doing that as the governor of Arizona and not in her possible new role as Secretary of Homeland Security.

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The governor's comment rekindles a simmering dispute she has had with Michael Chertoff, who heads the agency she may take over. Various media outlets have said President-elect Barack Obama intends to formally offer her the job once all the necessary background inquiries have been completed.

Napolitano would not talk about that. But she has consistently maintained that having troops in southern Arizona in a support role frees up Customs and Border Patrol officers to do their job, which is to prevent people from crossing the border illegally and catch the ones who do.

There were troops along the border for two years. But that ended last summer after Chertoff concluded they were no longer necessary.

Napolitano said Friday she intends to discuss with Obama the possibility of re-deploying those troops.

"That's something we continue to advocate," she said of herself and other border governors. "That really did seem to have an impact on the border in terms of improving the level of safety down there."

She said the troops were withdrawn because the U.S. Department of Defense saw no reason to keep them there.

But much of that decision actually came from Chertoff, who concluded that Operation Jump Start had fulfilled its mission and was no longer necessary.

That program, started in 2006, was designed to put 6,000 Guard soldiers in support roles along the border - 2,400 in Arizona - to do projects including surveillance, office tasks and building fences. The idea was to free up Border Patrol officers to actually get out in the field.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the operation did what it was supposed to do: It gave his agency the time to hire and train new officers. Once that was done, he said, there was no need to keep troops stationed along the border.

"We think very highly of the governor and respect her commitment to border security," Knocke told Capitol Media Services. But he said her call to restore troops is misguided.

"The fact remains that Operation Jump Start served its intended purpose," he said, resulting in the apprehension of about 176,000 border crossers and the seizure of 320,000 pounds of drugs. He also said the Guard troops helped build pedestrian and vehicle fencing.