California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached an agreement with the Bush administration on a plan to send the state's National Guard troops to help patrol the Mexican border.
Schwarzenegger says he will send 1,000 Guardsmen to assist U.S. Border Patrol agents in halting the flow of illegal immigrants. In exchange, the Bush administration has agreed to pay the full cost of the mission.
The agreement also stipulates that National Guard troops will not arrest and detain illegal immigrants, but handle logistical duties. This will free Border Patrol agents to take care of the law enforcement activities.
Governor Schwarzenegger says the mission will begin as early as July 15, and end no later than December 2008. The mission will be carried out by soldiers who volunteer to serve between six months to a year.
The agreement is part of President Bush's plan to deploy 6,000 National Guardsman to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. The governors of the border states of Arizona and New Mexico have already reached an accord with the Bush administration to deploy their National Guard troops along the border.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
