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1,100 National Guard ready for border duty

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

The California National Guard held a media briefing at the San Diego Tijuana border Wednesday. Guard officials expect to have 1,100 troops stationed at the California border by the end of this month.

The California National Guard held a media briefing at the San Diego Tijuana border Wednesday. Guard officials expect to have 1,100 troops stationed at the California border by the end of this month. But as KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson reports it is not clear how much this will help the Border Patrol.

California National Guard officials say 900 troops are already at work in the state's border region. And 200 more volunteers are in training.

The soldiers' duties include building roads and fences and manning operation stations to allow Border Patrol agents to return to enforcement.

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However, Border Patrol spokesman Damon Foreman doesn't know how many agents that is.

The President made a speech in May, I believe, and now they're here working. That's not a lot of time to have everything hashed out.

President George Bush requested 6,000 troops be sent to the border. It's a stopgap measure until the Border Patrol beefs up its force. The Guard's mission will cost about $770 million. 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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