SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
headed out into the desert east of San Luis Monday, plunked a hard hat on
his silver hair and met with National Guardsmen from his own state as they
expanded the 7-mile stretch of border wall, helped put up border lighting
and built roads that Border Patrol agents will use for patrol.
In a border visit that was reminiscent of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano's
visit to San Luis last week, Huntsman gave a pat on the back to a group of
50 Utah National Guardsmen who began their two-week stint building border
infrastructure.
"Keep up the good work," he told the troops, adding that
immigration is an issue that threatens national security and affects Utah.
Then speaking with reporters, he urged Congress to pass
comprehensive immigration reform, said he supported the building of a border
fence along populated parts of the border, and advocated cooperation with
Mexico to solve the immigration problem — a binational approach that has
drawn fire from critics.
"It is more effective if we address (immigration)
binationally ... It's helpful if we can solve this problem together," he
said.
When Mexican President Vicente Fox visited Huntsman last
month in the state capitol, the state's own group of minutemen and
protestors took to the streets, criticizing Fox for economic conditions in
Mexico that have led many to migrate to the United States.
Huntsman has told Utah newspapers he received threats for the
Fox visit, and he also drew fire from CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, who said
Huntsman supported Fox's "amnesty agenda for illegal aliens."
In his visit Monday, Huntsman advocated a resolution that was
adopted by the Western Governor's Association, which opposed "blanket
amnesty" for all undocumented workers.
He and Napolitano were primary authors of the resolution, and
are among a handful of governors out west who have been putting pressure on
Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
The two governors recently co-wrote an opinion column that
appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer advocating the WGA's platform of
increased border security, employment-based visas, a temporary guest-worker
program and state reimbursement for enforcement efforts.
Huntsman said the Guard's efforts will help to further slow
the flow of illegal immigrants across the Arizona-Mexico border, which has
begun to slow recently.
In the Yuma Sector, where agents have made over 100,000
arrests so far this fiscal year, the increase in apprehensions has slowed to
8 percent from the year before, compared to this year's high 25 percent
increase three months ago, according to patrol spokesman Rick Hays.
Nonetheless, attacks on agents and immigrants are up, and
local law enforcement officials have said they expect border violence to
continue to escalate.
Huntsman said Monday that he supported fencing along parts of
the border, given that the expanded barriers are accompanied by binational
cooperation.
"The idea all along has been to ... put fences along the
heavily populated areas ... so long as we're communicating with one
another," he said.
Huntsman's Yuma visit is the latest in a string of
appearances in Yuma in recent weeks by politicians coming out to speak on
immigration reform, which included Napolitano's visit last week and a May
visit by President Bush. Tuesday, Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary
for Homeland Defense, and Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard
Bureau, will visit San Luis, Ariz., to learn about the troops’ missions
under President Bush’s plan to free up immigration agents for border
enforcement, said Maj. Paul Aguirre, a spokesman for the Arizona National
Guard.
The Utah Guardsmen are the first to have arrived on the
border since Bush unveiled his plan last month to send 6,000 National
Guardsmen to help secure the border while more Border Patrol agents are
recruited and trained.
Aguirre said that more Guardsmen will arrive on the Arizona
border as early as Thursday, and Napolitano has said 2,500 soldiers will
take up positions in four border states by the end of June.
Aguirre said more than 150 Arizona National Guardsmen could
be deployed to the Arizona border by the end of this week, adding that
Napolitano is expected to unveil more details of National Guard deployments
Tuesday.
Blake Schmidt can be reached at bschmidt@yumasun.com or
539-6852.
UTAH GOV. Jon Huntsman Jr. (right) speaks to members of the Utah National Guard's 116th Engineer Company Monday. He visited the international border east of San Luis, Ariz., where his state's National Guard is extending the fence between Mexico and the U.S. PHOTO BY ALFRED J. HERNANDEZ/THE SUN