Border governors from California to Texas ramped up efforts Thursday to rein in illegal immigration by bolstering security at the Mexican border.

In Arizona, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed an agreement for the federal government to pay for the deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers at the border. Three hundred Arizona Guard troops will take up positions along the state's southern edge by June 15, to be joined later by soldiers from other states under President Bush's federal plan to battle illegal immigration.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ended a 17-day standoff with the Bush administration over whether to join the Border Patrol effort and who would pay for it. Schwarzenegger agreed to send the California Guard to the Mexican border, contributing about 1,000 Guard members as part of the president's plan.

In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry announced a plan for Texas residents and law enforcement officials to monitor video footage of some of the most isolated stretches of the Texas-Mexico border, using hundreds of surveillance cameras.

In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson signed the agreement to deploy Guard soldiers along that state's border despite his frequently expressed concerns about the plan.

"Clearly, America is facing an emergency along our border with Mexico, and we must take action," he said.

Bush has pledged up to 6,000 Guard members for the border over the next two years, part of a $1.9 billion crackdown he is pitching to help stem the flow of border-crossers. His plan calls for a slow buildup of Border Patrol agents, with the Guard pulled back from the border by 2008.

The Bush administration has committed itself to paying for additional Guard members even though Congress has not yet passed legislation for comprehensive immigration reform. The troops will remain under the command of their governors but with a high degree of federal control over operations.

The governors had to sign the federal agreement if they wanted their states to get reimbursed for troop deployments.

 

A supporting role

In Arizona, it is expected that it will cost $6 million for the first three to six months that the initial Guard soldiers are on duty. The troops won't actively patrol the border but will serve in a support role. They will assist with intelligence analysis, logistics, road and fence building, vehicle inspections at ports of entry and other jobs, essentially freeing Border Patrol agents from desk duties.

"In my view, this support role is a very appropriate role for the Guard in protecting Arizona's security," said Napolitano, who stood alongside Adjutant Gen. David Rataczak, the highest-ranking member of the Arizona Guard.

The agreement signed by Napolitano sets terms for Arizona's acceptance of Guard members from other states. It is unknown when those troops will join the 300 just announced, or the more than 100 Arizona Guard soldiers already assisting at the border with anti-drug operations and other duties.

Known as Operation Jump Start, the agreement marks a tangible step by the federal government to address the border and a victory of sorts for the Democratic governor. She and Richardson had declared emergencies at the Arizona and New Mexico borders in August, and in December, Napolitano pledged to deploy the Guard if the feds would pay the bill.

State Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, has long called for the use of the Guard to curb illegal immigration. But this isn't exactly the boots-on-the-ground he had in mind.

One of the state's leading voices on border enforcement and one of Napolitano's most ardent critics, Pearce said he'd prefer that troops actively patrol the border.

"This should have been done months ago," Pearce said, noting that he worries the governor will use the deployment as a means to duck additional steps to secure the border.

 

Legislature's plan

Napolitano is considering a wide-ranging package of GOP-supported immigration measures that would, among other things, place undocumented immigrants in violation of the state's trespassing law and block such individuals from some government services.

She is widely expected to veto the Legislature's proposal, which Pearce helped author.

Even some supporters of Thursday's agreement questioned what impact it will have on the wave of undocumented immigrants crossing Arizona's 389-mile southern border.

"Unless you've got people shoulder to shoulder, I don't know that there's evidence that numbers (of troops or border agents) are going to have any significant impact," said House Minority Leader Phil Lopes, D-Tucson. "There doesn't seem to be any relationship between the number of guys and gals patrolling the border in Humvees and the number of folks crossing the border."

In 2005, the Tucson and Yuma sectors accounted for half of the country's 1.1 million arrests for illegal border crossings. Arrests in the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector are up 13 percent from the same time last year, when agents made more than 138,000 apprehensions.

That said, Lopes understands the need for the agreement, both in terms of border policy and politics.

"The public thinks we need to secure the border. This is one way to try it," he said. "I'm just dubious it will work."



Associated Press contributed to this article.