News
Officer: Guard’s border response ‘almost perfect’
By Jim Lamb
An Arizona National Guard officer said the response by troops when they were approached by armed men from Mexico at night near Sasabe recently was “almost perfect.”
Maj. Paul Aguirre said the four Guard troopers were armed and could have opened fire if they felt threatened.
“They showed the proper restraint,” he said in a telephone interview Friday. Aguirre is the Arizona Guard’s public affairs officer.
The Guard troops from Tennessee were staffing an observation post.
They withdrew so not to engage the border crossers.
And they summoned the Border Patrol as they were instructed to do he said.
Border Patrol agents arrived within minutes.
In Phoenix Thursday Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and State Rep. Warde Nichols, R-Gilbert, criticized the guard troopers for withdrawing.
Thomas said the troop’s action was “a terrible precedent,” and Nichols asked “why do we have National Guard (troops) running from illegals on the border?”
Aguirre said the troop’s mission the night of Jan. 3, was to observe.
Wearing night vision goggles they saw a group of men with guns coming from the border.
Aguirre said practically every day people can be seen crossing the border or heading back.
The Border Patrol tries to arrest all those coming north.
Aguirre said the National Guard is not stationed here “to militarize the border. We’re not at war with Mexico. Mexico’s our friend.”
The National Guard troops are “not doing any law enforcement,” he said. That’s the Border Patrol’s job, Aguirre said.
“Our response to this very serious incident was almost perfect,” he said.
Last May President Bush ordered the National Guard to send troops to help watch the border.
They work as border observers, operate equipment and even repair Border Patrol vehicles.
jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749
Maj. Paul Aguirre said the four Guard troopers were armed and could have opened fire if they felt threatened.
“They showed the proper restraint,” he said in a telephone interview Friday. Aguirre is the Arizona Guard’s public affairs officer.
The Guard troops from Tennessee were staffing an observation post.
They withdrew so not to engage the border crossers.
And they summoned the Border Patrol as they were instructed to do he said.
Border Patrol agents arrived within minutes.
In Phoenix Thursday Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and State Rep. Warde Nichols, R-Gilbert, criticized the guard troopers for withdrawing.
Thomas said the troop’s action was “a terrible precedent,” and Nichols asked “why do we have National Guard (troops) running from illegals on the border?”
Aguirre said the troop’s mission the night of Jan. 3, was to observe.
Wearing night vision goggles they saw a group of men with guns coming from the border.
Aguirre said practically every day people can be seen crossing the border or heading back.
The Border Patrol tries to arrest all those coming north.
Aguirre said the National Guard is not stationed here “to militarize the border. We’re not at war with Mexico. Mexico’s our friend.”
The National Guard troops are “not doing any law enforcement,” he said. That’s the Border Patrol’s job, Aguirre said.
“Our response to this very serious incident was almost perfect,” he said.
Last May President Bush ordered the National Guard to send troops to help watch the border.
They work as border observers, operate equipment and even repair Border Patrol vehicles.
jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749
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