Posted on 05/06/2005 9:51:29 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO — Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has flung himself into the roiling debate over illegal immigration in recent weeks, he had virtually ignored the issue since being elected.
He made immigration a campaign theme in 2003 by promising to block driver's licenses for illegal immigrants — which he did, in his first major official act — and to secure more federal funds to deal with it.
But a review of Schwarzenegger's public speeches and statements shows he has been silent, with a few exceptions, on an issue that has raised alarm across the political spectrum. Lawmakers and immigrant groups say he has been absent behind the scenes as well.
--snip--
Minuteman Fan
Schwarzenegger has been alternately lauded and labeled a racist since he praised the work of the Minuteman Project, in which a group of armed citizens patrolled the border between Arizona and Mexico last month. His comments were encouraging to groups that oppose illegal immigration in California.
Previously, those groups said, Schwarzenegger had done little of substance to shut off state services to people in the country illegally. Nor had he brought significant attention to the issue of border security and the costs to taxpayers of illegal immigration, such as schooling, healthcare and imprisonment for crimes, they said.
"When you are governor of California, it's the elephant in the middle of the living room. You have got to deal with it," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
"To the extent that he has been dealing with it, he has been flying below the radar."
Since being elected, Schwarzenegger has made few statements on immigration.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
He also said that he'd organize a mult-state conference involving border-state governors to address the illegal immigration issue. Whatever happened to that?
ping
Schwarzenegger has been quietly negotiating with Democratic lawmakers to provide a modified driver's license for illegal immigrants that would prominently display their noncitizen status.He has??? AGAIN?
By Peter Nicholas and Robert Salladay, April 29, 2005
SACRAMENTO — Calling the nation's borders dangerously porous, GGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday praised the private "Minuteman" campaign that uses armed volunteers to stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
Schwarzenegger said in a radio interview that the federal government is failing to secure the border with Mexico, and he cast the hundreds of private citizens who have been patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border since April 1 as a popular response to government inaction.
"I think they've done a terrific job," Schwarzenegger said of the "Minuteman" volunteers, who plan to expand to California in June. "They've cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants a huge percentage. So it just shows that it works when you go and make an effort and when you work hard. It's a doable thing."
The governor added that, "It's just that our federal government is not doing their job. It's a shame that the private citizen has to go in there and start patrolling our borders."
President Bush has denounced the Minuteman volunteers as vigilantes.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) expressed surprise that Schwarzenegger would be "praising efforts by untrained volunteers to patrol the borders. The best course … would be to add an additional 2,000 border patrol agents."
The leader of a Mexican American group called the governor's comments "shameful" and "nothing short of base racism."
"I think we're seeing the real Arnold Schwarzenegger. The mask has now fallen," said Nativo V. Lopez, state national president of the Mexican American Political Assn. "Those of immigrant stock should have no illusions about what his real sentiments and feelings are toward them."
Just last week, Schwarzenegger and his aides sought to clarify his statement to a convention of newspaper publishers that the nation should "close the borders." Before his speech was over, an aide told reporters that Schwarzenegger had meant to say that the U.S. should secure its borders — not shut them down.
Schwarzenegger has frequently sought advice from former Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican who used the issue of illegal immigration to fuel his reelection campaign in 1994. Schwarzenegger also has hired several former Wilson staff members, including his chief of staff, Pat Clarey.
An organizer of what is being called the "Minuteman Project," Chris Simcox, said he welcomed Schwarzenegger's endorsement.
"It's gratifying to see that elected officials are responding to the will of the people," Simcox said in an interview Thursday.
He said there are about 15,000 volunteers who have committed to patrolling the border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. The group is also incorporating, assembling a staff and opening a national fundraising campaign, Simcox said. He added that he planned to call Schwarzenegger.
Volunteers may carry firearms if they choose, he said, but they obey all local laws. Their practice is not to apprehend people but to report instances of illegal crossings, he said.
"We don't involve ourselves in taking the law into our own hands," he said.
Margita Thompson, the governor's press secretary, said: "At this point, the governor does not oppose" the group coming to California.
As far as the charge of racism against the governor, she said: "It's not racist to ask the federal government to enforce its laws. Everyone should be united in wanting to protect our national security."
In his interview with KFI-AM (640), the governor said he was deeply troubled by illegal crossings and what he described as an inadequate federal effort to tighten borders. He said he was especially disturbed by footage he had seen recently on Fox News showing "hundreds and hundreds of illegal immigrants coming across the border."
Schwarzenegger said the nation is sending the wrong signal by making water available to migrants as a convenience.
Humanitarian and religious groups, such as Humane Borders and No More Deaths, provide water for immigrants crossing the border. Federal wildlife officials have provided water stations in the desert for animals but have been criticized for not providing enough for people.
Said Schwarzenegger, "What we're doing basically is, by not really securing the borders, we're saying: 'Look, here are the various water stations. Here are the places where you can cross the borders. Here is where we're going to help you.' The whole system is set up to really invite people to come in here illegally, and that has to stop."
Enrique Morones, president of the Border Angels, an immigrant rights group, responded to the governor's comments. "I assure you, nobody is coming here for the water, and the stations we have set up by various organizations is a humanitarian effort.
"We don't respond to Arnold Schwarzenegger; we respond to a higher authority. We're a nonpolitical, humanitarian organization."
Asked by the hosts of the "John and Ken Show" why Bush called the volunteers vigilantes, Schwarzenegger said: "I really cannot tell you exactly what his thinking is. I'm sure he's trying to solve the problem as well as anyone can. And he maybe has more information than you and I have. Why he has a policy about the border the way he has, I don't know. I've not had that conversation with him.
"But the next time I see him, I will have that conversation."
Schwarzenegger's opponents in the Legislature voiced outrage at the governor's comments.
Aides to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) said he was furious and promptly called Schwarzenegger to complain.
Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, a Democrat from South Gate, blasted the governor's comments as "scapegoating and immigrant bashing."
"To support vigilantism is completely against the oath he took" to uphold the law, De La Torre said. "It goes way beyond normal law enforcement, normal border patrol jurisdiction. It's just off the charts. For him to say this puts him to the right of President Bush. This is completely out of the mainstream in California."
In the same radio interview, the governor also asked a Spanish-language Los Angeles television station, KRCA-TV Channel 62, to remove a billboard it erected with the words "Los Angeles, Mexico." The governor said such sentiments — implying that Los Angeles was now part of Mexico — would encourage illegal immigration.
Some conservatives welcomed Schwarzenegger's comments.
"Obviously, we are very happy the governor is beginning to side more and more with those of us who have been taking the problems with illegal aliens seriously," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a volunteer group. "The governor gets that illegal aliens are a problem facing California."
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Minutemen Patriots ~ Bump!
It's always been hard to secure the borders. Just ask us indians. We have been trying since 1492. Not enough manpower and really low tech.
Another ignorant comment from one of the open border supporters. Always the race card, ignoring the fact that California can't afford illegal immigration anymore.
" Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Be Ever Vigilant! "
That's what the Aztecs and Mayans said. Maybe they had a Society of Quezacotl volunteers to patrol the borders. In the end, their society went under.
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Speaking of "racist" comments . .
"While I am saying this half serious and half joking, I think we are practicing la reconquista in California."
~ Jose Pescador Osuna, Mexican Consul General, Feb 2002.
"I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders and that Mexican migrants are an important - a very important - part of this."
~ Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico, speaking in Chicago, July 23, 1997.
"Mexico extends beyond its borders."
~ Vicente Fox, Current President of Mexico, speaking to a gathering in Milwaukee in July of 2001
"California is going to be a Hispanic State and anyone who doesn't like it should leave. They should go back to Europe."
~ Mario Obledo, President of the Californian Coalition of Hispanic Organisations, June 1998
"Our devil has pale skin and blue eyes..." "To the gringos in the audience, I have one final message to convey, 'Up yours, baby. You've had it, from now on.' "
~ Jose Angel Gutierrez, professor, University of Texas.
"We have an aging white America. They are not making babies. They are dying. The explosion is in our population... I love it. They are sh!tting in their pants with fear. I love it.... We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have got to kill him."
~ Jose Angel Gutierrez, professor, University of Texas.
"Remember 187 (proposition to deny taxpayer funds for services to non citizens) was the last gasp of white America in California."
~ Art Torres, Chairman of the California Democratic Party in front of 400 cheering Latinos at U.C. Riverside on January 14, 1995.
"We need to avoid a white backlash by using codes understood by Latinos... non-Latinos aren't watching, they aren't raising questions"
~ Fernando Guerra, professor, Loyola Marymount
"Go back to Boston! Go back to Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future. You are old and tired. Go on. We have beaten you. Leave like beaten rats. You old white people. It is your duty to die. .. Through love of having children, we are going to take over."
~ Augustin Cebeda, of the 'Brown Berets', a militant Aztlan group at a violent rally in Los Angeles on July 4, 2000.
"Fair housing agencies report a surge in discrimination by immigrant landlords from many nations who refuse to rent outside their ethnic group."
~ Reported in Los Angeles Times, Nov. 21 2001.
"In an extraordinary political move, President Vicente Fox has announced the formation of a cabinet level agency to govern, protect and provide services to over 20 million Mexicans now living in Aztlan, a territory encompassing most of the southwest part of the USA. President Fox declared yesterday that he will personally lead the new agency he named "Consejo Nacional para las Comunidades Mexicanas en el Exterior" (National Council for Mexican Communities Abroad). The "Council" will consist of the president, most of the cabinet secretaries and a, as of yet unnamed, representative from Aztlan. This is a bold move that essentially extends the arm of the Mexican government into the territories it previously lost during the Mexican-American War of 1848."
~ Reported in "La Voz de Aztlan", August 7, 2002.
"We have Nicaragua, soon we will have El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Mexico. One day, tomorrow or five years or fifteen years from now, we're going to take 5 to 10 million Mexicans and they are going into Dallas, into El Paso, into Houston, into New Mexico, into San Diego, and each one will have embedded in his mind the idea of killing ten Americans."
~Thomas Borge, Nicaragua Interior Minister as quoted in the Washington Times, March 27, 1985
-- Arnold admits that California is going bankrupt and losing businesses and honest hard-working citizens - because of liberal democrat politicians, "immigration lobbyists", attorneys, scuzzy Socialist Judges - and he is trying to put the brakes on spending, corruption, teacher's pensions, property taxes, state income taxes, employer's Worker's Comp, Unemployment Insurance, state welfare, public housing, VIOLENT CRIME......
-- Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico Governors have no interest in meeting with Arnold to stop illegal aliens from invading America's borders and ripping off honest USA taxpaying citizens who are workers, small business owners, students, and retirees -
-- They will increase and mandate "entitlements" and "benefits" as deserved universal human rights benefits - rights/benefits/entitlemants without borders -
-- And who pays/will pay more for these "rights"? - Mandated by the US Congress (often giving illegal aliens more and better benefits - for them it is truly "free" - and higher gross=net incomes than honest working American citizens) Ordered by radical Judges
-- You the dumb honest hard-working USA citizen!
- With a gun and prison cell looming at/over your heads by the federal mandates, state and local pimps thru exploding income taxes, gasoline taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, Unemployment Insurance costs, Worker's Compensation costs, home and vehicle and liability insurance costs, hidden "fees" and licenses, prison costs, and the priceless cost theft, rape, killings by illegal aliens.
. . . . IT TAKES A PILLAGER
Illegal aliens, crooked greedy corrupt businesses, "immigration advocates" and groups, Mexican and other government slimeballs setting up offices and advocacy right here in America.....
-- Incidentally, Mexico now wants to be called "America" too - so make sure you use "US", "USA", "United States of America" -
-- Where are the violent MS-13 (& now MS-18 & others) machete-weilding gangs now?
-- They follow the illegal aliens - heading all over the USA - look on any construction job - says the FBI and ICE and Homeland Security - and you will find the MS-13 drug gangs -
Otherwise - just check out Tyson Foods lunchrooms and the Home Depot parking lots for Spanish-speaking employees -
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Here come the OBLoser creeps now -
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Great post, thanks.
Sometime you should look up the history of Starved Rock State Park near Ottawa, IL!!!
EVERYONE in America needs to read these racist quotes. And they have the nerve to call US racist! I'm printing these out and sending to every California official I can think of. These are sickening!
Just for making statements about securing the border and praising the Minutemen -- without mentioning anyone's race -- Governor Schwarzenegger is now hated by California Latinos and their "leaders." So, he must be doing something right and I for one hope he keeps on this path.
He seems determined to save the economy of this state and is ticking off a lot of people who have been enjoying a ride on the gravy train.
BTTT!
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