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PHOENIX -- Saying the new "virtual fence'' in Southern Arizona is flawed, Gov. Janet Napolitano is asking the nation's security chief to delay the pullout of National Guard troops from the area.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the governor said the 28-mile experimental segment near Sasabe has had "continuing problems.'' The result, she said, is that plans to expand the network of cameras and sensors is now being pushed back to 2011.

Napolitano said that makes plans to withdraw the remaining Guard soldiers from the border by July 15 ill advised. But Russ Knocke, Chertoff's press aide, said while adjustments have had to be made, the virtual fence is working.

He also said the Guard deployment, known as Operation Jump Start, always was intended to be a temporary measure while the government hired and trained more Border Patrol officers. Knocke said there already are 15,000 on board -- from fewer than 12,000 when the process began -- with the agency on track to have 18,000 hired by the end of the year.

Napolitano's letter, obtained Wednesday, is the latest salvo between the Democrat governor and the Republican administration about whether the federal government is fulfilling its obligation to secure the border.