The president also envisaged a broad immigration reform that would allow some of the 11.5 million illegal workers already in the United States to find a pathway to citizenship.
Opposition Democrats said that sending thousands of troops to the Mexican border would strain US forces already under pressure because of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. And some in Bush's own Republican Party said that they feared that the president was not being tough enough on illegal immigration.
Bush said that up to 6,000 National Guard troops - part-time soldiers under the authority of state governors but whom the president can call upon - could be deployed on the southern border beginning next month.
The soldiers would not arrest migrants, but instead would provide ancillary services such as road and vehicle repair, fence building and electronic surveillance. The troops would be rotated into the border area for stints of about two weeks throughout a two-year period.
By the time that the two-year period was up the federal government would increase the number of Border Patrol agents to 6,000, more than doubling their numbers from the time that he first took office.
Bush also said that any effort to tighten US borders must be coupled with a temporary guest-worker program for undocumented immigrants living in the country, more than half of whom are from Mexico.
Any guest worker program would be part of a comprehensive immigration reform that would also provide a pathway to citizenship for many workers living "in the shadows of our society", he said.
Millions of legal and illegal migrants and their supporters have taken to the streets in protests in recent weeks demanding a less restrictive immigration policy. They are countered by groups like the Minutemen, citizen vigilantes who carry out their own patrols of the border and denounce illegal immigrants.
Bush said that his temporary worker proposal "would create a legal path for foreign workers to enter our country in an orderly way, for a limited period of time", and "would give honest immigrants a way to provide for their families while respecting the law".
Immigration reform in Congress has been mired for months in partisan bickering. Monday's speech satisfied some of the president's conservative critics. "Utilizing the National Guard is an effective, short-term stopgap to immediately strengthen border security as long-range reforms begin to take effect," said Senator Bill Frist, the head of the Republican majority in the Senate whose party has been badly divided by immigration reform.
But other Republicans were suspicious. "A few weeks ago, the administration announced a crackdown on illegal employers, arresting more than 1,100, nationwide. But by the next morning, more than half of those arrested were released," said conservative Congressman Tom Tancredo, one of the president's harshest critics on the immigration. "We will all be watching and waiting to see if the president follows through on his pledge to enforce the law" and crack down on employers, he said.
California Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER was also uneasy. "Border state governors were not consulted about this proposal in advance," Schwarzenegger complained in a statement. "I am concerned asking National Guard troops to guard our nation's border is a Band-Aid solution and not the permanent solution we need."
Opposition Democrats said that deploying National Guard soldiers would further stretch the US military. "We don't need a military solution to break a political stalemate," said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, who argued that Bush may have "the power to call up the National Guard" but not to convince his own Republicans to support immigration reform.
In his speech Bush insisted that there were enough Guard forces "to win the war on terror, respond to natural disasters, and help secure our border".
Effective immigration control also would require state of the art technology, such as tamper-proof identification cards, motion detectors, infrared cameras and unmanned aircraft, he said.
The president also stressed the need to seek ways to fully integrate many of the newcomers. "These illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard, support their families, practice their faith and lead responsible lives," Bush said. "The success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans," he added.
In Mexico City, officials received assurances "that the announced measures do not imply a militarization of the border", the foreign ministry said in a statement. However, they did express concern "that these actions are not accompanied by enough progress in the legislative process".
Mexico said that it backs immigration reform that "offers a solution for the millions of Mexicans who live in [the United States] without the required documents, and which would allow both countries to count on a more secure border".
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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