Guard Troops Shifted Away From Border

The Bush administration has begun pulling National Guard troops from their deployment along the U.S. border with Mexico, the Washington Times reports today. It's the beginning of a gradual phase-out of Operation Jump Start, the administration initiative launched last year to beef up the border presence while the Border Patrol seeks to hire and train 6,000 new agents.

State officials in Arizona and New Mexico are not pleased with the move. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said it was "ill-timed and should be halted and re-examined" in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. But DHS says the Border Patrol is building up as the National Guard draws down, so there won't be any reduction in the level of intensity of enforcement at the border.