Drawbacks Seen With Having National Guardsmen on Border

"[A]s the debate on how to best secure the border with Mexico continues, a new government report says that the use of National Guard troops on the border can hinder recruitment efforts and pose a challenge to long-term border security planning.  The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, also says that the presence of active duty guards on the border may lead to the perception that the border is militarized, which could hinder binational agreements between the U.S. and Mexico aimed at fighting organized crime on the border." - Julián Aguilar, Texas Tribune, Apr. 18, 2012.

National Guard troops patrol the Mexican border near Sasabe, Ariz., in 2007.