New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Urges George W. Bush to Extend National Guard Presence Along US-Mexico Border

April 8, 2008 -- SANTA FE - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson sent a letter to President George W. Bush today urging him to extend Operation Jump Start, the National Guard deployment along the US-Mexico Border. Operation Jump Start is scheduled to end along the New Mexico border on June 15, 2008.

A National Guard entry identification team watches the U.S. border near Columbus, NM: The National Guard is helping the Border Patrol secure the nation's southern border in support of Operation Jump Start. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill

“Operation Jump Start was supposed to end in conjunction with 6000 new Border Patrol Agents actually on-duty, in the field,” Governor Richardson said. “Those agents are not there yet, but nevertheless the DOD is going ahead with the withdrawal, with potentially devastating consequences."

Governor Richardson drafted the letter after receiving a briefing on the most up to date border security issues from local, state and federal officials last night in Santa Teresa.

New Mexico National Guard Adjutant General Kenny Montoya and Homeland Security Director Tim Manning, who participated in the briefing, agreed that temporarily extending Operation Jump Start is critical to border safety.

Currently there are 284 National Guard troops deployed along the New Mexico Border.

“Mr. President, it is critical that you extend Operation Jump Start to run until all new Border Patrol agents are in place and actually on the job. Only then should the Guard troops be withdrawn,” Governor Richardson wrote.

Governor Richardson also expressed concern that the planned withdrawal will coincide with increased Border Patrol operations in Arizona and continued strong presences in California and Texas, which combined could make the New Mexico border increasingly vulnerable. The Governor also pointed that the recent drug-related violence in northern Chihuahua State could only compound the border security problem.

Source: New Mexico Governor

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