Posted on 06/05/2007 9:09:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called President Bush “very courageous” Tuesday for pressing ahead with a contentious immigration reform plan, a welcome boost from a fellow Republican on an issue that has split the party.
Schwarzenegger rebuked those he described as partisan critics for trying to torpedo the bipartisan immigration deal struck by the Senate. It would allow 12 million illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. while they took steps to gain citizenship.
“I think it's inexcusable that we have had this system, and that people are fighting from the far right and the far left over this issue, rather than coming together in the center and really coming up with a compromise that works,” the governor told several hundred members of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
“I have to say President Bush is very courageous to push this immigration bill,” he said. “I am very pleased that Congress is working very hard and negotiating so they can solve this issue once and for all.”
The negotiations on Capitol Hill are fragile because broad swaths of both parties oppose the Senate bill, which Bush supports. Democrats want to give family connections higher priority in the measure, which for the first time places greater emphasis on the education, skills and job experience of immigrants than on blood ties. Conservatives want tougher border security and favor an immigration system based more on the country's economic needs than on family connections.
Some of the most vocal conservative opponents oppose any attempt to legalize the status of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
Schwarzenegger, an Austrian immigrant who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, told the chamber members gathered in the auditorium of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. headquarters that immigration reform is smart business.
“I believe very strongly that we must secure our borders, we must build the fence, we must have the best-trained border patrol there at the border,” he said.
“But at the same time, I feel very strongly we should be able to bring guest workers into the United States (who) can work here. Our farms need it, our construction businesses need it,” he said. “They can't find the work force here in California.”
Schwarzenegger's views on immigration have largely aligned with Bush's for some time. But the support he expressed Tuesday, in response to an audience member's question, came at a sensitive time for the president.
Bush has been pilloried by conservatives who oppose what they see as the immigration proposal's amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Of the 10 Republican presidential candidates who gathered in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday night for a debate, only one, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, backs the bipartisan bill.
The governor's prepared remarks focused on political and infrastructure challenges he is trying to tackle, such as redistricting and the state's water needs.
On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger planned to host an evening fundraiser at his Brentwood home for some of the same causes. He and first lady Maria Shriver will entertain donors willing to give large sums to his main ballot committee, the California Recovery Team. Some are expected to give as much as $250,000.
The event is aimed at the governor's stable of big-money donors who pledge to contribute or raise large amounts of money to help finance his political operations, whether through ballot measures or promoting his policy initiatives.
The network of financial backers is similar to candidate Bush's “Rangers” or “Pioneers” – business leaders or wealthy individuals from the Silicon Valley to Wall Street who can provide a steady stream of cash for Schwarzenegger's political committees, sometimes in amounts that reach seven figures.
Government records show Schwarzenegger's top donors include developer Alex Spanos, DLH courier service founder William Robinson and Jerry Perenchio, former chief of the Univision television network, who each have donated more than $2 million.
AP Political Writer Michael R. Blood contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
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This is not the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the recall campaign trail. No, he said he’d fight illegal immigration then. Does anyone remember that?
And never forget Schwartzenegger’s maritial affiliations. Once you’re in that family, you never get out.
You see? The governor is living proof that immigrants, in many cases, don’t work out well. He is still an immigrant first and an American second.
These mexicans are coming here to take at least the southwest part of our country, whereupon they will turn it into precisely the hell that mexico is now. They will do that because they are insuficiently industrious and absolutely unable to govern anything. And they are ehtically challenged, to put it mildly. Add avarice to that mix and you have it.
Political wore Arnold turning tricks. POS
FoR some reason, I doubt he will be out at the forefront tossing spike strips in the path of Mexican trucks when they roll across out fruited plains.
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