1,839 reinforcements for Arizona

Crossings decrease after GIs arrive

CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Published: 08.29.2006

NOGALES- The National Guard members perched atop desert hills across southern Arizona are at the forefront of the debate over border security, but many of the part-time soldiers say they'd never really given much thought to illegal immigration.

"People don't really think about it where we come from," said Senior Airman Erica Payne, who came to Arizona on Aug. 11 with her unit from St. Joseph, Mo.

For much of the past two weeks, the 22-year-old mother of two has worn fatigues and lived in a tent overlooking Nogales, Son. She is among 5,442 Guard members stationed along the Southwest border under Operation Jump Start, President Bush's plan to bolster the U.S. Border Patrol for the next two years until the agency can hire and train an additional 6,000 agents. As of Monday, 1,839 Guard members from 13 states were in Arizona.

"We're the eyes and ears of the Border Patrol," said Payne.

As she peered through binoculars with one hand, the other rested on a M-16 rifle.

Illegal entries near Nogales and across much of the border have slowed since the Guard arrived in June to help build fencing and roads, along with surveillance duties.