Bush to Call on Guard to Bolster Border

From the AP

May 15 9:55 AM US/Eastern
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON

President Bush is sending thousands of National Guard troops to bolster patrols along the Mexican border, a move designed to win support for immigration reform from get-tough conservatives in his party.

Bush, in a speech to the nation Monday, is proposing to use the troops in a supportive role to the Border Patrol while it builds up its resources to more effectively secure the 2,000-mile line between the U.S. and Mexico, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Snow said the effort would use only "a very small percentage of the Guard," which numbers about 400,000 members around the country. White House officials say it would involve fewer than 10,000 Guardmen.

In a signal of the high stakes on the issue, Bush was to make the announcement at 8 p.m. EDT, in a rare prime-time speech from the Oval Office. He planned to follow up the address with a visit Thursday to the border in Arizona to further press his case.

The broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and the cable networks Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC planned live coverage of the speech, set to run less than 20 minutes.