NBC: Bush may deploy Guard along U.S. border

Agreement about 'the money'
One Pentagon official told NBC's Jim Miklaszewski that federal involvement is primarily about money: State governors can deploy their National Guard forces whenever they see fit, but without direct involvement from the Pentagon, the states would have to pick up the tab.

The National Guard forces, if deployed to border states, would still remain under the command of the state governments.

The differences between Bush and House Republicans flared dramatically when the Senate appeared on the verge of agreement on a comprehensive immigration bill several weeks ago. Several GOP conservatives denounced the bill as an amnesty measure and Rep. Steve King of Iowa said anyone who voted for it should be “branded with a scarlet letter A.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., offered his view of the importance of immigrant labor: “I say let the prisoners pick the fruits.”

In political terms, Rep. J.D. Hayworth of Arizona and others said Republicans would pay a price in the midterm elections if they vote for anything like the Senate legislation. “Many of those who have stood for the Republican Party for the last decade are not only angry. They will be absent in November,” Hayworth said.

Given Bush’s recent erosion of support among conservatives, as measured in polls, there’s been no evident change in sentiment among his congressional critics.

The political calculations are different at the White House. Hispanics comprise the nation’s fastest growing minority, according to this line of reasoning, and no political party can afford to be seen as blind or even hostile to their concerns and the desire of their relatives to join them in the United States.

Bush and top House Republicans reviewed the issue last week at a private White House meeting, according to several officials, and the president urged the GOP congressional leadership to embrace his call for comprehensive legislation. That means provisions to strengthen border security, coupled with a guest worker program that — while the president doesn’t say so in public — provides a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. and other leaders stressed that would be a hard sell with their rank and file. Bush restated his desire for a comprehensive bill, and the leadership responded by noting the sentiment of the rank and file, according to officials familiar with the conversation. They spoke on condition of anonymity, given the private nature of the meetings.

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