COLUMBIA -- Many Latinos living in South Carolina say they are worried about President Bush's plan to use thousands of National Guard troops to police the 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico.

"I don't think the National Guard is trained for that activity," said Diana Salazar, coordinator for the Latino Coalition in Charleston.

Salazar, a U.S. citizen whose ancestors came from Mexico, said she thinks the Border Patrol is doing a good job of keeping illegal immigrants out. Putting soldiers on the border would send the "wrong message to Latinos that if they cross they might get shot."

"We're not having a war with Mexico," she said.

The president, in a speech to the nation Monday night, proposed using the troops in a support function until the ranks of the Border Patrol can be built up.

Roberto Ruiz, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Argentina, said he understands the reasoning for trying to bolster security on the border.

"I think they've got to do something," said Ruiz, who has been in the United States since 1990. "I think the situation is not under control at all."

But Ruiz, whose wife is from Mexico, said he would have to see more details about how the Guard would be used before he could support the proposal.

Putting troops on the border "sends a message that they don't want to deal with the issue of what is happening in this country, with the people who are already here," said Myriam Torres, the director of the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies at the University of South Carolina. "It also sends a violent message, you know, we are ready to kill you."

Torres came to the United States from Bogota, Colombia, as a student. She moved to South Carolina 15 years ago and is a citizen.

She said she understands Americans' desire to be safe from terrorists, but the Mexicans coming to the United States are not terrorists and the idea of arming the border is likely to instill fear in all immigrants.

"We do feel it as immigrants. I feel it personally," she said. "The majority of us are here to work and to provide for our families."

The consortium performs research on the state's Latino immigrant population and tries to help define their needs.

"Many immigrants are really scared at this point," Torres said.

Torres said the consortium has worked to help immigrants get identification and with other paperwork.

According to the consortium, the state's estimated Hispanic population as of 2002 was 109,285, but even that estimate likely is off by as many as 400,000.