Border mission feeble way to slow immigration problem

We send our best wishes for a safe and successful deployment to the 130 Nevada National Guardsmen, including about 30 from the Carson City area, who are heading south to support border enforcement.

We only wish we could be as enthusiastic about the mission they're being asked to carry out.

The Guard is part of President Bush's plan to strengthen border security and slow illegal crossing of the border. They'll be a temporary solution until border security is improved in other ways, including electronic surveillance and more agents.

But if Bush wants something like a shock and awe solution to this pressing national problem, he's got the National Guard facing in the wrong direction. The problem is already here.

Rather than helping the agents at the border, they could be attached to those agents charged with checking the compliance of employers who hire illegal aliens and pay them far less than they'd pay a U.S. resident.

It's hard to imagine it would be a difficult task. The illegal aliens are not hiding. They're holding jobs throughout the country and it wouldn't take an FBI investigation to figure out which ones.

It wouldn't be a popular solution among politicians who covet the Hispanic vote, nor among employers who wield political influence based on their campaign contributions.

So instead Bush has chosen what seems to be a poorly planned effort to seal the border, but is probably in reality a feeble effort to appease the millions of Americans who are demanding action.

Border security will be an important aspect of a long-term solution, but deploying the Guard on a temporary basis before the entire border security plan is enacted doesn't seem the best use of its service. Illegal aliens have demonstrated time after time that if they're stopped at one section of the border, they'll just cross at another.