Front Line

Schwarzenegger Denies Request for More Troops

By Peter Nicholas, Times Staff Writer
9:42 PM PDT, June 23, 2006

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said Friday he turned down a White House request to more than double the number of California National Guard troops that will be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, fearing the commitment could leave the state vulnerable if an earthquake or wildfire erupts.

Just three weeks ago, Schwarzenegger and the Bush administration worked out a written agreement in which the state would send 1,000 troops to the Mexican border, as part of a 6,000-strong deployment aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

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On Wednesday, the Bush administration asked the governor's office for 1,500 more soldiers. The additional troops were to be sent to two other border states -- Arizona and New Mexico, according to a California National Guard official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Schwarzenegger took less than a day to give his answer: No.

"The governor did not feel that it was appropriate to send additional Guard out of state," said Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's communications director.

A White House spokesman suggested Friday night that Schwarzenegger's position could disrupt the Bush administration timetable for fortifying the border with National Guard troops.

Under that deadline, the 6,000 National Guard soldiers from different states are to be in place by Aug. 1, assisting federal Border Patrol agents.

"We are reviewing how this decision by California's governor may affect the overall deployment schedule of National Guard troops to the border as part of 'Operation Jump Start,' " said Blain Rethmeier, a White House spokesman.

Asked why the Bush administration wanted more troops from California, Rethmeier referred the question to National Guard officials in the Washington, D.C. area, who were not immediately available Friday night for comment.

Soon after Bush announced a plan in May to use National Guard troops to shore up the border, Schwarzenegger made plain he was unhappy about the operation.

He said he would only agree to dispatch soldiers if certain conditions were met. He capped the number of troops to be sent and insisted on a two-year deadline for their return, predicting that any kind of open-ended commitment would stretch years and possibly decades.

It was a carefully crafted position that seemed mindful of the larger political context.

Schwarzenegger is running for re-election this year -- a time when his support among Latino voters is sagging. Recent polls show Schwarzenegger with the support of 25 percent of Hispanic voters -- seven points below what he received in the 2003 recall election.

If the governor aligns himself with the part of his Republican base that wants tougher measures to police the border, he risks offending Hispanic voters. Schwarzenegger doesn't want to be seen as "militarizing" the border.

It's not hard to read the political calculation into this, but let's look another level down. If Guard troops are our first level response to emergencies and disasters, we are on pretty shakey ground. Given that this big country has a host of natural disasters that are endemic, this is frightening. We have done no systemic thinking about what the appropriate response to natural disasters should be.