Huntsman to visit Guard troops on border

Gov. Jon Huntsman will visit Utah National Guard troops stationed at the Mexican border in Arizona during a break in the Western Governors' Association annual meeting Monday.

The soldiers are the first to deploy along the border under President Bush's plan to send up to 6,000 National Guard members to the four southern border states.

The Utah guard unit is improving a dirt road running parallel along the border about 25 miles south of Yuma, filling in gaps in fortified fencing and running wiring for new lighting to be installed later to help the Border Patrol spot illegal immigrants trying to come across.

Huntsman said in a news release Thursday that he wanted to personally thank the troops while he is in Arizona for the governors' meeting. The troops have already been visited and thanked for their service by Arizona Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Huntsman and Napolitano were the primary authors of a resolution adopted by the governors' association that opposes offering blanket amnesty to all undocumented workers. The association supports steps to reduce the delays in legal immigration and to tighten security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Immigration will be among the topics discussed at the association's meeting in Sedona, Ariz.