Mexico expresses concern at 'militarisation' of US border

1.2m people a year are caught trying to cross into the US.

WASHINGTON - The White House yesterday denied reports it was planning to militarise America's border with Mexico, saying it was considering sending National Guard troops only in a supportive role as a stopgap measure.

President George W. Bush was to deliver an address to the nation last night on immigration after the White House said last week he may propose deploying more National Guard troops to the 3200km border to stop illegal immigration.

The plans drew the ire of Mexican President Vincente Fox, who telephoned his American counterpart to express concern at the possible "militarisation" of the border.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said no final decision on sending the troops had been made, but that the idea was to "provide a bit of a stopgap as the Border Patrol build up their capacity to deal with this challenge.

"It's not about militarisation of the border," Hadley said. "It's already being done. It's about assisting the civilian Border Patrol in doing their job, providing intelligence, providing support, logistics support and training and these sorts of things."

The US Border Patrol arrested nearly 1.2 million people last year trying to cross the border and estimates that 500,000 others evaded capture.

The address was timed to coincide with the resumption of a Senate debate on immigration reform and a plan to give millions of illegal immigrants a possible path to US citizenship.

Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said border deployments were "not the role of our National Guard", that 75 per cent of their equipment was in Iraq and that some units had already done four tours.

"We have stretched our military as thin as ever seen in modern times," Hagel said. "What in the world are we talking about here?

- REUTERS