First troops in Bush's border plan arrive in Arizona

PHOENIX -- Fifty-five National Guard members from Utah arrived in Yuma on Saturday afternoon -- the first troops to be sent to the Arizona-Mexico border in a new crackdown on illegal immigration.\nThe Utah troops had been scheduled to work on fences and other projects as part of the Guard's long-standing efforts at the Arizona border, officials had said as late as Wednesday. But their mission has since been folded into President Bush's plan to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the four southern border states to supplement federal immigration agents.\nThe Utah troops got word of the change Friday from Guard officials in Washington, D.C., said Maj. Hank McIntire, a spokesman for the Utah National Guard.\nThey are scheduled to be briefed on their mission Sunday and start field work as early as Monday, he said.\nUnder the president's plan, troops will perform support duties to allow federal authorities to focus on border security. They won't perform law enforcement duties.\nThe Utah troops, who will not carry weapons, will be in Yuma for two weeks to install improved lighting at a border crossing, extend an existing border fence and build a road, McIntire said.\nThe projects will be done in the area of San Luis, Ariz., a town 25 miles south of Yuma with a fortified stretch of border with Mexico.\nThe town is part of the nation's busiest U.S. Border Patrol station, in a state that is the nation's busiest illegal entry point.\nA 12-foot corrugated metal fence divides San Luis from Mexico, reinforced 50 yards to the north by an 8-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire and towers with surveillance cameras. Stadium lights help agents spot those who try to slip across at night.\nGov. Janet Napolitano proposed a similar plan in December, but it remained on the shelf while funding was sought.\nOfficials say 300 National Guard soldiers from Arizona are expected to begin arriving at the state's border in mid-June.\n--Associated Press Writer Amanda Lee Myers contributed to this report.