Bush to beef up border

WASHINGTON — President Bush's new plan for fixing the nation's immigration woes is an old-fashioned carrot-and-stick approach.

The stick comes in the form of 6,000 National Guard troops dispatched to the U.S.-Mexico border to help support efforts to apprehend foreigners trying to sneak into the country. The carrot goes to millions of illegal immigrants already working in the United States who would get the chance to become citizens if they pay a fine and back taxes and learn English.

The one-two combo is aimed at winning support from get-tough conservatives so that Bush can achieve his goal of creating an immigration system that he says would be more fair and humane. Bush also wants temporary permits for foreigners to come to the United States and work in low-paying jobs.

Some conservatives in Bush's party say the citizenship proposal amounts to amnesty. He rejected that term in a prime-time Oval Office address timed to coincide with the start of Senate debate on the issue.

"It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across the border," Bush said. "There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation."

The National Guard troops, which the White House hopes would begin moving to the border early next month, would fill in temporarily while the nation's Border Patrol force is expanded. Bush asked Congress to add 6,000 more Border Patrol agents by the end of his presidency and to add 6,700 more beds so illegal immigrants can be detained while waiting for hearings to determine if they can be sent home.

"We do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that," the president said in a 17-minute prime-time address.

For many years, the government has not had enough detention space to hold illegal immigrants, so they were released into society, and most did not return for their court date. "This practice, called catch and release, is unacceptable, and we will end it," Bush said

The National Guard troops would mostly serve two-week stints before rotating out of the assignment, so keeping the force level at 6,000 over the course of a year could require up to 156,000 troops.

Still, Bush insisted, "The United States is not going to militarize the southern border."

The White House wouldn't say how much the deployments would cost but said the troops would be paid for as part of $1.9 billion being requested from Congress to supplement border enforcement this year.