Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed Thursday to send the California National Guard to the Mexican border, ending a 17-day standoff with the Bush administration, a Schwarzenegger spokesman said.
The two sides had been at odds over whether California Guardsmen would join the effort to bolster the Border Patrol and who would pay for it.
It's a Federal responsibility and one they've neglected
They reached an agreement under which California will contribute about 1,000 Guardsmen and the federal government will pick up the full cost, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn.
All together, President Bush has proposed to send 6,000 National Guardsmen to the U.S. border with Mexico. The overall cost of the multiyear deployment has been put at more than $1 billion.
"This allows us to participate in the plan to secure the nation's border while also addressing the concerns the governor had raised," Mendelsohn said.
Don't do it just for show, either. Allow them to defend themselves and make arrests