The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials announced this week that Operation Guardian Support is expanding at Arizona’s ports of entry as the National Guard continues to improve border security.
The operation began in April. It has 491 volunteer National Guard members at the Office of Field Operations nationwide with 40 volunteers at the Port of Nogales.
Arizona was authorized for 682 guardsmen through fiscal year 2018, ending Sept. 30. The state does not yet know what role these new members will play.
The volunteers perform nonlaw enforcement tasks such as inspecting cargo, and they assist the CBP which has had difficulty meeting federal government hiring requirements.
The Port of Nogales currently has 140 law enforcement vacancies.
Nogales Area Port Director Michael Humphries praised the National Guard members, saying they are valuable to CBP operations.
Humphries and Arizona Task Force Guardian Commander Col. Hoyt Slocum recently toured the Mariposa Crossing and spoke to the media.
“CBP has deployed technology along the border,” Slocum said. “So much technology that they’re having to hire positions, and hire people to come in now and man that technology. A success for me is when that person is hired, sourced and put into that position so I can pull a guardsman back or re-purpose them. That’s the steady state we’re looking for.”