I think using the National Guard for border security and enforcement is a very bad idea for several reasons.

(1) Isn’t our military already spread too thin?  Look at the Katrina and Rita episodes: the states impacted had insufficient Guardsmen to handle the crises, so other states had to ship troops into those areas needing assistance.  Why?  Because our dear leader reduced military spending, spread our men and women in uniform way too thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention all over the damn world, and had to call up hordes of National Guard personnel to augment a military that is so overburdened at present that we as a country are unable to react to any need for their services without further eroding our homeland protection (which, BTW, already sucks, so we’re really just screwed in that regard).  Attempts to further engage the states’ troops in this manner leaves governors everywhere without the resources they need in an emergency.  It will also further degrade our entire nation’s ability to defend itself.

(2) Someone will get killed: a teenage boy coming to America in hopes of finding work and supporting a family back home, a mother carrying a child or, worse yet, pregnant who is crossing the border trying to find a better life for her family, or a simple farm worker whose family is starving and who knows that his only chances for saving them are in our country.  Again, someone will get shot, and the needless death will spark demonstrations, possibly even riots, all over the country as immigrants and their families, as well as American citizens with ties to other countries, all lash out in anger over the senseless killing of someone in search of a better life.  It won’t be pretty.  Oh, and we won’t have the National Guard troops available (see #1) to properly respond to these riots.  Think LA but on a much larger scale.  You can expect related demonstrations at least in every city where immigration marches have taken place, if not many, many more.

(3) The whole idea is a political ploy Bush is using to pander to his constituency.  He has as yet demonstrated no sound plan to show how this will work, and he has no reliable information to indicate that it would have a positive impact on illegal immigration.  It amounts to nothing more than a knee-jerk publicity stunt.  Without sufficient planning and convincing evidence to show that it will be a positive move with a positive effect, it equates to nothing more than a panic-motivated reaction by the President, something akin to hiding in the Oval Office and screaming “Help!” from under the desk.  It’s laughable and troubling on many levels.

(4) This represents further federalization of the National Guard, troops guaranteed available to both federal and state governments when needed.  As I mentioned in #2, states are getting the shaft on domestic security since their local troops are being commandeered by Dubya.  This troublingly results in putting all of our military eggs into a single basket — under Bush’s régime.  A vast majority of Guardsmen have already been deployed around the globe at the behest of the American government; this represents further degradation of any state control over what historically have been state troops available to the federal government on an emergency basis.  Remember, this erosion of Guard control and availability at the state level has been going on for several years now, and border patrol and enforcement is just the latest grab at power by the cronies in the White House.

(5) I believe the National Guard, along with the rest of the military, has become just another political prop to the Bush Administration.  Without a solid plan for approach to border security, and without any evidence to suggest that such a move will even prove fruitful in stemming the inflow of illegal immigrants, standing a bunch of troops along the border facing Mexico accomplishes nothing.  Will it even look good?  King George thinks so.

Remember: ultimately, this is a mission to protect our borders from the poor, the infirmed, the desperate, the tired, and those wishing for a better life, to breathe a breath of freedom and opportunity.  If he does send them, I do not envy them the task with which they are charged.