The Associated Press just reported that the President will announce this evening that he will place use fewer than 8,000 troops to secure the 2,000 mile border between the United States and Mexico.
According to Rep. Charlie Norwood’s assessment of the border, this will not be nearly enough troops to enforce our nation’s southern border. Norwood studied the success rates of the Minuteman’s border surveillance and calculated it would initially take 36,000 troops to provide an average of three two-man teams per border mile, working in eight hour shifts to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. He said “Once in place on the ground, the deployment will need to be increased to 48,000 troops, to provide necessary manpower for time-off, sick leave, and long-term support services.”
Details of Norwood’s research and proposed plan can be found in last year’s Immigration Reform Caucus special report titled “Results and Implications of the Minuteman Project.”
You can also read a summary of Norwood's plan in his column here.
UPDATE: A new AP story clarified that "National Guard Troops tapped for duty on border patrol with Mexico will not chase down illegal immigrants, but instead play behind-the-scenes roles in support of border gaurds" futher watering down the President's measures to enforce the border.
