On Mexican border, doubts about a deployment

A growing number of skeptics say President Obama’s deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the Mexican border is a costly, inefficient mission that has done little for homeland security.

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Pfc. Philip Moore, 28, rests during a "down time" shift overlooking the border fence with Mexico in Nogalez, Ariz., in June. He is one of 1,200 National Guard troops who were deployed last year to assist with border security on the U.S.-Mexico border. Soldiers at observation posts in Nogales work 24-hour shifts, taking turns resting for four hours at night.

John Moore / Getty Images

Arizona National Guardsmen watch over the border with Mexico at an observation post in Nogales, Ariz. The Obama administration ordered hundreds of soldiers deployed along the Arizona border to form "entry identification teams" and spot immigrants crossing into the United States illegally. The troops, who have no detention authority, radio U.S. Border Patrol agents when they spot immigrants crossing. The 1,200 National Guard soldiers have helped Border Patrol agents apprehend 25,514 illegal migrants at cost of $160 million so far — or $6,271 for each person caught.

John Moore / Getty Images

Army National Guard troops scan the U.S.-Mexico border with a thermal imaging camera at dusk in Nogales, Ariz. The Pentagon has extended the deployment of some 1,200 Guardsmen who were deployed last year to assist with border security. Proponents of the mission say the guardsmen serve as a deterrent to drug smugglers and illegal migrants — a role that is impossible to value in dollars.

John Moore / Getty Images

Spec. Bernard Mendoza, 24, watches for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers on the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz. State Department officials worry that the domestic use of U.S. troops increases the perception that the border is being militarized, while Chamber of Commerce boosters say the presence of the National Guard sends the message that the U.S. side of the border is a dangerous place, when statistics show it is not.

John Moore / Getty Images

An Arizona National Guard trooper watches over the U.S. border with Mexico at an observation post in Nogales, Ariz. Under pressure from governors in the southwest border states, President Obama in July 2010 ordered the deployment of 1,200 Guard soldiers in what was dubbed Operation Phalanx as a federal showdown erupted in Arizona over a controversial new law targeting immigrants entering the country illegally.

John Moore / Getty Images

U.S. Border Patrol agent Colleen Agle, left, searches in December 2010 for evidence of drug smuggling in a drainage tunnel that runs beneath the U.S.- Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz. A series of tunnels that run from the Mexican side into the United States were designed to prevent flooding, but smugglers frequently burrow into them to transport drugs into the United States.

John Moore / Getty Images

U.S. Border Patrol agents in December 2010, searching for footprints in a drainage tunnel that runs under the U.S.- Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz. Drug smugglers have used the tunnels to bring narcotics into the United States. According to the Pentagon’s rules of engagement, the 1,200 National Guard troops deployed at the border are not allowed to pursue, confront or detain suspects, including illegal immigrants, or investigate crimes, make arrests, stop and search vehicles, or seize drugs. They also are not allowed to check Mexico-bound vehicles for bulk cash and smuggled weapons headed toward the drug cartels.

John Moore / Getty Images

Sgt. Oscar Escobar of the Army National Guard scans the U.S.-Mexico border at dusk in June in Nogales, Ariz. Critics of the deployment say the National Guard troops are doing less than ever. “This deployment is different,” said Adam Isacson, an expert in regional security at the Washington Office of Latin America, a think tank. “The public perception along the border is that if they see the National Guard at all, they are sitting on a hilltop in lawn chairs, with pair of binoculars, staring at a fence” .

John Moore / Getty Images

Floodlights illuminate the U.S. border fence with Mexico at dusk on June 22 near Nogales, Ariz. The National Guard arrived at the border at a time when apprehensions of illegal crossers had fallen to historic lows, and the number of Border Patrol agents has surged.There are 18,152 Border Patrol agents stationed along the Southwest border, up from 9,100 in 2001. Apprehensions of illegal crossers have fallen by two-thirds, from a high of 1.6 million arrests in 2000 to 447,731 last year. This year’s tally is expected to be lower still, reaching levels not seen since the early 1970s.

John Moore / Getty Images

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