In 2010, former President Barack Obama said he would deploy 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. They were sent to Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico. While National Guard troops were not authorized to arrest people found to be crossing the border illegally, they helped staff observation posts, monitor surveillance footage and build fences.
In 2006, former President George W. Bush called up 6,000 National Guard troops to California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. They were commissioned to help install border barriers, provide training and assist with border surveillance. The deployment was designed to support Customs and Border Protection agents in “executing logistical and administrative support, operating detection systems, providing mobile communications, augmenting border-related intelligence analysis efforts, and building and installing border security infrastructure.” Operation Jump Start, as the project was called, hoped to relieve Border Patrol agents from administrative duties so they could instead focus on border security.
According to Customs and Border Protection, the operation resulted in the apprehension of 5,003 people, 110 vehicles, $11,052, 28,577 pounds of marijuana and 1,447 pounds of cocaine.