Posted on 09/04/2003 8:53:44 PM PDT by FairOpinion
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After weeks of accusations that he was ducking controversy, Arnold Schwarzenegger seized on one of the state's most bitterly debated issues on Thursday, vowing to fight a California law granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
The Democratic-controlled California Senate on Wednesday approved the legislation and sent it to Gov. Gray Davis, who has promised to sign it "in a heartbeat" while wooing Hispanic voters in an Oct. 7 recall election.
The measure has infuriated conservatives across California and Schwarzenegger -- a Republican who has called for tighter controls on the U.S. border with Mexico as he battles state Sen. Tom McClintock for the party vote -- wasted no time in weighing in.
"If Gray Davis signs this bill I will lead the fight to repeal it as governor," the Austrian-born film star, who became an American citizen in the mid-1980s, said in a statement.
"I am an immigrant," he said. "I waited for 10 years to get my American citizenship and I know first-hand how immigrants who come to this country and obey the laws have struggled to achieve their dreams. I am pro-immigrant. But we should not invite fraud or undermine law enforcement."
Supporters of the bill, who include Schwarzenegger's top Democratic rival, Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante, say the bill will make roads safer because it will require immigrants who already get behind the wheel without a license to pass a California driver's test for the first time.
They also see the legislation as part of a larger push toward the acceptance of millions of illegal immigrants in California, most working in unskilled agriculture and service jobs and living in the poorest neighborhoods.
CRITICS CITE POTENTIAL FOR VOTER FRAUD
Opponents say the bill could allow illegal immigrants to vote, create an incentive for others to follow them across the border and allow terrorists to obtain valid state identification without being subjected to background checks. It is also expected to cost California taxpayers tens of millions of dollars amid record budget deficits.
Immigration has also become an issue in the recall campaign, with Bustamante attacking Schwarzenegger as "anti-immigrant" for his support of Proposition 187, a voter-approved measure denying taxpayer-funded services to those in the country illegally.
Davis, who once vetoed similar legislation over terrorism concerns, has been accused of pandering to Hispanic voters during the recall by promising to sign a bill with even fewer security restrictions.
Schwarzenegger spent Thursday campaigning in the southern California city of Riverside, where he urged a boisterous crowd of 400 to vote and fended off accusations that he had ducked the campaign's first debate, which was held on Wednesday night.
Peppered by reporters with questions about his decision to skip the forum, the "Terminator" star said he and wife Maria Shriver instead attended a parent-teacher conference for one of their four children.
Schwarzenegger also said he had returned a campaign contribution from the union representing Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies because he did not want to be compromised if elected governor.
"We don't want to take money from unions," the film star said. "We don't want to get into something where we feel we owe something to the unions. That's the biggest problem in Sacramento right now."
Schwarzenegger, who has been criticized for saying at the outset of the campaign that he would not accept any donations and later accepting them, also characterized that early pledge as a "mistake."
"I wasn't clear enough," he said. "There are so many people who want to support the campaign but most of the money comes from Maria's and my accounts."
California voters will be asked in the recall election next month whether to boot the embattled Davis from office and choose a replacement from a field of more than 130 candidates.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/976304/posts
September 3, 2003
Schwarzenegger Statement on Senate Bill 60
Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement Wednesday after the California Senate voted to approve Senate Bill 60 - granting drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants - and sending it to Governor Gray Davis:
"The California Legislature has now voted to give drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. If Gray Davis signs this bill, I will lead the fight to repeal it as governor.
"I am an immigrant. I waited for ten years to get my American citizenship. And I know first-hand how immigrants who come to this country and obey the laws have struggled to achieve their dreams. I am pro-immigrant. But we should not invite fraud or undermine law enforcement. The federal government has expressed security concerns over this measure, and in a time of heightened national security, we should not undermine our nation's immigration laws."
What idiots. It would take a massive terrorist attack in California for the California DemocRATS to worry about the security implacations of allowing illegal aliens to obtain drivers licences. Even then, I'm afraid quite a few would still "not get it".
If his plan is to ask John Burton nicely to repeal it, then we know he's full of %*#(%*...
We'll know he's serious if leads a Referendum campaign...
How much do you want to bet that the courts throw out the referendum.
You didnt get enough attention on the other thread?
Do you have to show proof of insurance before one is issued a CA driver's license? I'd be surprised if many of these illegals could afford auto insurance. And if that's the case, they'll simply go on as before -- driving without a licence (and insurance) without much knowledge of the rules of the road.
So as long as they maintain their registration in Mexico they avoid the issue.
As Arnold/Yoda has said in the past:
'Yah, already dey are here, stay we should let dem, legal must we make dem, it is right way to do, yah. Yah, we must make fix dis, yah.'
But that was on the east coast. While most people in Texas understand that there are quite a few potential targets in Texas, it appears that a large number of DemocRATS in California would be happy to undermine US security if it means they could hold onto office. I think that only a large terrorist attack in California could force the majority of California DemocRATS to take the security implications of their policies seriously.
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