There are many theories on how to effectively secure the nearly 2,000-mile-long border the United States shares with Mexico.
Some believe it’s building a fence to separate us from our southern neighbor, while others think adding additional surveillance equipment and Border Patrol checkpoints will help decrease the number of illegal immigrants and drugs entering America.
One thing virtually everyone close to the border security issue can agree on: America seems to be waging a third war with the Mexican cartels that will stop at nothing to smuggle humans and drugs into our homeland and the national security threat it poses.
One of the more popular ideas on how to secure the region is through the deployment of troops and creating a strong military presence along the border. In May, President Obama gave the green light for up to 1,200 National Guard troops to be assigned to the four southwest border states. In late September, armed troops started trickling in and working alongside U.S. Border Patrol agents, but the ramp up period is a gradual process since it takes a great deal of time to train the soldiers for their new mission.
According to the National Guard Bureau, nearly 900 troops are already at work: 318 in California, 447 in Arizona, 89 in New Mexico and 39 in Texas. The deployment is expected to last one year although no official end date has been made public.
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