2 groups of Guardsmen will head to New Mexico

As part of a federal effort, the 200 soldiers will help watch for illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

By Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune

Last update: January 5, 2007 - 6:50 PM

Two hundred Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers will be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border this month to help combat illegal immigration, the Minnesota Guard announced Friday.

Starting Sunday with the deployment of 80 troops, the soldiers will spend three weeks in New Mexico, initially receiving training for their mission and later manning surveillance sites in the desolate border region, said Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, spokesman for the Minnesota Army National Guard.

The troops will not be arresting illegal immigrants, but rather helping U.S. Border Patrol agents locate them, he said.

The first group, from the Albert Lea-based D Company, 2nd Battalion, is scheduled for deployment from this Sunday to Jan 27. An additional 120 soldiers from the Rochester area, the B Company, 2nd Battalion, will work in New Mexico from Jan 20 to Feb. 10, Olson said.

The news was greeted with mixed reaction in Minnesota. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who had announced the possible deployment in July, was pleased that so many volunteers had stepped forward for the mission, said his spokesman, Brian McClung.

"From the governor's perspective, one of the first steps to immigration reform is securing our nation's borders," McClung said. "We believe the National Guard can play an important role while the feds ramp up their capacity to protect the borders on their own."

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, said she appreciated Guard members' willingness to participate in another deployment, but she questioned whether they should be asked to leave their families and jobs in Minnesota for such an assignment.

"We already have our National Guard cycling in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan," she said. "They really are heroes. But is that the only solution the feds can come up with? We need to create opportunities for people to immigrate here legally."

Immigrant rights advocates said the move painted the picture of illegal immigrants as criminals rather than ordinary people looking to improve their lives.

"Sending the guards to the border creates the image that something is being done, when in reality nothing is being resolved," said Mariano Espinoza, executive director of the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network, a statewide organization of immigrant advocates. "Congress needs to pass real immigration reform."

The Minnesota Guard will work at four Border Patrol stations in New Mexico that stretch from outside El Paso, Texas, to the Arizona border, said Lt. Col. Jon Jensen, commander of the 2nd Battalion, which oversees the Albert Lea and Rochester companies. They are in Santa Teresa, Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg, he said.

"It's a very remote area, very desolate," Jensen said. "Most people think of a desert as being very hot. But it is very cold at night."

The first group of soldiers will be stationed at Santa Teresa and Deming, he said. The second group will serve at all four border stations.

The Albert Lea company had previously served a year and a half in Afghanistan, returning home in June 2005, Jensen said. The Rochester Guard company had previously been deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for six months in 2001 and later served in Kosovo from September 2003 to 2004.

Both groups will bolster Operation Jump Start, a federal plan that uses National Guard soldiers to assist the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency in preventing illegal immigrants from crossing and in searching for illegal immigrants who have crossed the border.

The Albert Lea Guard members will prepare to leave today at the Albert Lea Armory.

Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511 • hopfen@startribune.com

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