"Some migrants have told me they heard about the troops on television and, because the U.S. Army doesn't have a very good reputation, they prefer not to cross," said Francisco Loureiro, who runs a migrant shelter just across the Arizona border.

The troops are eventually supposed to be replaced by 6,000 additional Border Patrol agents hired and trained by the federal government. Some National Guard troops will be sent to the border for their annual two-week training while others may be deployed for months.

Huntsman, a Republican, endorsed the president's plan and has pushed for immigration reform with other Western governors, including Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. The pair put together a resolution on immigration that included a call for better border security.

Immigration is expected to be discussed before the three-day meeting of the Western Governors' Association in Sedona, Ariz., ends Tuesday. Huntsman said he plans to report to the governors about his visit to the border.

"This is very consistent with what we as governors have talked about," Huntsman said of the troops' efforts on the border. Seeing "the large, gaping holes, literally, in the security along the border," he said, made him "scratch my head and wonder why this wasn't being done earlier."

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Contributing: Associated Press

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