1:00 am Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Tancredo said 1,200 troops for a 2,000 mile border is an inadequate number because there have been requests for up to 8,000, with 6,000 in the Arizona area alone.
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo |
"Remember, 1,200 means 400 in three shifts," he said. "If you do not have three shifts, what does it matter? You have 1,200 out there for eight hours a day and then you pull them back? It's ludicrous!"
Arizona border residents told Fox News today that Obama's wavering immigration policy is only making things worse.
"Every time our president talks to the Mexican president, or every time the word amnesty comes over the Mexican news, there is a flood of people," said one unnamed resident who feared retaliation.
The residents said troops won't deter illegal aliens and drug smugglers.
"There's guys out here with no guns, and they're our troops," she said. "The Mexicans think we're nuts."
As WND recently reported, thousands of illegal aliens apprehended along the 2,000 mile border stretching through California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas aren't even from Mexico. Many are citizens of countries that are known sponsors of terrorism, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Syria and Iran.
Tancredo said he doesn't believe the U.S. government's decision to send troops is intended to improve the situation.
"I don't think anybody thinks this matters," he said. "Obama certainly doesn't. That's why he's doing it."
He added, "The desire is not to fix the problem. The desire is to have amnesty. All of this is in anticipation of amnesty."
