Senate approves funds for troops on the border

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Wednesday approved funding to keep up to 6,000 National Guard troops deployed along the U.S. border with Mexico.

The measure, approved on a voice vote, is an amendment to a nearly $460 billion defense appropriations bill for the fiscal year that began on Monday. The amendment added $794 million to fund the National Guard force at the border.

President George W. Bush ordered 6,000 National Guard troops to the border last May in a move to help the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency cut the flow of illegal immigrants crossing north.

About 3,000 National Guard troops are currently deployed in the border security program, which was slated to end on July 1, 2008. That figure is down from 6,000 in May.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, author of the amendment, said the additional funding would allow the National Guard mission to continue throughout next year.

"The number of illegal aliens attempting to cross the border has decreased by about 25 percent since National Guard troops were deployed. This program is a proven success and it would be unthinkable to back away so soon from this critical part of our border enforcement strategy," Sessions, an Alabama Republican, said in a statement.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed its own version of the bill and the two chambers will have to resolve their differences before adopting a final version.