HONOLULU -- Members of the Hawaii National Guard will soon be in Arizona to help patrol the Mexican border.

The guard commander said this will be much easier on Guard families than last year's deployment to Iraq.

President George W. Bush ordered the National Guard to the Mexican border after complaints that illegal immigration was getting out of control.

Hawaii Guard members will join a force of 6,000 soldiers mostly for deterrence and surveillance.

"We will not engage the illegals trying to get into the United States. We will notify the border patrol where they are," Adjutant Gen. Robert Lee said.

The Guard emphasizes that it is playing a supporting role and a humanitarian role of saving desperate aliens from death in the desert. So, it cannot be accused of militarizing the border.

Hawaii guard members could be in Arizona as soon as late this month. Those will be volunteers with special skills in communication, medicine or in the infantry. The bulk of the troops will go to Arizona next year as part of their regular two-week training period.

"(There will) probably a large formation, such as a few hundred soldiers, and even Air National Guard units when we can spare them," Lee said.

Hawaii National Guard members finished a year deployment in Iraq six months ago. This deployment is considered much easier on families because it is considered less dangerous, shorter, and the terrain -- the remote Arizona desert, won't be much different.