Arizona Sheriff: Why More US Troops in Korea Than on Mexican Border?

On Monday, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu told CNS News that the 1,200 U.S. National Guardsmen that will be kept along the U.S.-Mexico border until Sept. 30 is far from enough. The sheriff accused the Obama administration of "pandering" with this decision on manpower levels, indicating the sheriff believes it is a purely political gesture that will have a negligible effect on US-Mexico border security.

Only 520 guardsmen are deployed in Arizona, according to the sheriff,  and Arizona is a state with a 276-mile border with Mexico. In 2010, approximately 212,000 illegal aliens were seized in the Tucson sector of Arizona – or 47 percent of all illegal aliens taken into custody, according to a Department of Homeland Security study cited by CNS News.

To illustrate his point, Babeu compared the number of U.S. soldiers assigned to protect the US-Mexico border with the28,500 US troops that have been stationed in North Korea for 58 years.

Referring to what he views as a grossly undermanned US-Mexico border-particularly in the State of Arizona-Babeu said:

“The gravest national security risk that we face is right here with the unsecure border with Mexico...right from the beginning, these 1,200 [National Guard] soldiers fall far short from what’s really, truly needed to achieve a secure border.”

The Sheriff went on to claim that 6,000 U.S. troops are needed to properly secure the US border. In his opinion, 3,00o National Guardsmen in Arizona and 1,000 in each of the other three border states would do the job over a two-year period.