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Schwarzenegger blasts government for lack of border security

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published June 19, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT
This story was published more than 18 years ago.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger blasted the federal government Wednesday for failing to secure the U.S. Mexico Border. Schwarzenegger made the comments after touring the San Diego Tijuana border and be

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger blasted the federal government Wednesday for failing to secure the U.S.-Mexico Border. Schwarzenegger made the comments after touring the San Diego-Tijuana border and being briefed on the National Guard's deployment. KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson has details.

Schwarzenegger flew over the border to get a firsthand look at where California National Guard troops will be deployed come mid-July.

More than 230 soldiers are already in San Diego getting ready for their assignments. Twelve hundred will be stationed in California by August 1.

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Schwarzenegger says the tour reinforced his belief that the federal government must do more to control of the border.

Schwarzenegger: "We need more manpower, more infrastructure because we have to do everything that we can to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants, drug smuggling and also the potential of terrorists coming across this border."

Schwarzenegger initially called the idea to send the National Guard to the border half-baked . He changed his stance when the federal government said it would foot the bill and troops could go home at the end of 2008. Amy Isackson, KPBS News.

Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
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