The security situation in Mexico along the border has been steadily deteriorating, and today the White House announced that President Obama plans to send as many as 1200 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border.

Obama plans to submit a request to Congress for $500 million in supplemental funding to secure the border and enforce federal laws, according to an administration official.

The troops will “provide intelligence; surveillance and reconnaissance support; intelligence analysis; immediate support to counternarcotics enforcement; and training capacity until Customs and Border Patrol can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border,” the official said. The move comes in wake of Arizona’s passage of a harsh immigration law, which ignited a national conversation about illegal immigration.

The border money will used to “enhance technology at the border, share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and increase DoJ and DHS presence and law enforcement activities at the border, to include increased agents, investigators, and prosecutors, as part of a multi-layered effort to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons, and money.”