A fence separates the cities of Nogales, Arizona, US (L) and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico
The US will start sending some 1,200 troops to its border with Mexico in August to help in monitoring and arresting illegal immigrants, officials say.
The deployment is part of President Barack Obama’s border plan to reduce drug smuggling and human trafficking on the US-Mexican border.
Obama asked for $500 million in supplemental funds from the Congress in late May to deploy more troops to secure the almost 3,200-kilometer (2,000-mile) border.
The Army and Air National Guard troops “will provide direct support to federal law enforcement officers and agents working in high-risk areas to disrupt criminal organizations seeking to move people and goods illegally across the southwest border,” AFP quoted Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as saying on Monday.
Gen. Craig McKinley, commander of the National Guard, said that the troops will be trained in four border states, including California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, by September 1.
Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon has expressed discontent with the decision.
[more...]
Related posts:
Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Spanish