Posted on 05/25/2006 4:57:59 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Mexican President Vicente Fox arrived in California Thursday amid intense debate over immigration and as the U.S. Senate approved sweeping reforms that include tighter border security and a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
Fox was to address a joint session of the state Legislature and meet privately with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, their first meeting since the movie star became governor.
On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said he would stress Mexico's responsibility for illegal immigration in his meeting with Fox.
"Mexico is our friend," Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol news conference. "I am going to have an open discussion with President Fox of how can we work together ... (to) solve problems of our environment, our immigration and border security problems and how we can work together to make our industry flourish."
California is the last stop on Fox's four-day visit to the western U.S., which also included appearances in Utah and Washington. In Seattle, Fox outlined a five-point position on immigration, saying Mexico does not support illegal migration and must expand economic growth so migration is "(no) longer a necessity, but a freewill decision."
The timing of the visit - as the Senate approved far-reaching immigration reforms - is awkward for the Mexican president, who has urged Congress to take a softer approach.
The bill passed Thursday in the Senate would build a triple-layer border fence along 370 miles and add U.S. Border Patrol agents, while giving millions of illegal immigrants a means of earning citizenship. But there is no such provision in the House bill, which makes it a felony to be in this country illegally.
President Bush, meanwhile, has called on governors to send 6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border to back up the Border Patrol, which Fox opposes.
Schwarzenegger has raised questions about Bush's plan, although on Wednesday he said he was prepared to go along with it, as long as the deployment is temporary.
The illegal immigration issue has been a political land mine in California for a decade. There is strong sentiment among voters to stem it, but the emerging Hispanic electorate is sensitive to anything that smacks of discrimination.
California has more illegal immigrants than any other state - 2.4 million according to a 2004 study by the Pew Hispanic Center. They work predominantly on farms, in construction and in the service industry, from hotels to restaurants.
Immigrants also are a major source of income to Mexico. Mexicans living in the United States sent home about $20 billion last year. And Latin American immigrants in California, the majority of whom are Mexican, send more money home than from any other state, more than $9.6 billion in 2004.
The country is economically important to California, as well, and is the state's No. 1 trading partner. In 2005, California's exports to Mexico totaled almost $18 billion, second only to Texas, which exported $50 billion. California's exports to Mexico directly or indirectly support 177,000 jobs, according to Schwarzenegger's office.
The governor has walked a fine line on the issue of illegal immigration, blaming the federal government for not doing enough to solve the problem, while reminding voters of his own immigrant past.
Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he would tell Fox, "that immigration and border security is a federal issue and the federal governments of both sides, the United States and Mexico, can and must do more."
Some of the governor's fellow Republicans were more critical of Fox's visit. About half a dozen GOP lawmakers planned to boycott Fox's speech to the Legislature.
"I think that rather than wasting our time and his time trying to tell us what to do and how to do it, I think he should go back to his country, fix his economy and stop sending his social problems to the United States," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta.
A spokesman for Assembly Republican leader George Plescia of La Jolla said several members were unhappy that Fox had declined an invitation to meet with them. Fox is scheduled to meet with Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, before his speech.
"We think it's unfortunate he can't meet with us when he's meeting with the Democrats," Plescia spokesman Morgan Crinklaw said.
Some Republican lawmakers also were circulating yellow buttons with the words "No Mas," or no more, to wear to Fox's address Thursday night.
Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, said in a statement that the buttons were designed to draw attention to the party's frustration with what it believes is Mexico's lack of attention to illegal immigration.
"Mexico cannot continue to ignore the crisis of illegal immigration into the United States, and President Fox must work with the United States to take the necessary steps to control our borders," he said.
It will be the California Legislature's first joint session other than annual speeches by the governor and chief justice since Spain's former prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, spoke to lawmakers in 2003.
On Thursday morning, Schwarzenegger traveled to Southern California for a visit to the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, where he received a warm welcome. Under President Bush's plan, National Guard troops could be deployed from the base to the southern border.
Schwarzenegger thanked the troops for protecting the nation and, as he has in the past, celebrated the opportunities he has enjoyed as an immigrant.
"I'm proud to be an American," he said, eliciting cheers from the audience. "As an immigrant, someone that has come over here from Austria, I appreciate that more than anyone."
If the Mexican people would only act regarding the leeches that are living off of them. That includes the leeches here in America that pretend to care for them.
He is the least worst, for the US and for Mexico
Mercury News wire services
"Harvard University, the oldest college in the United States, said students from families with a combined income of $60,000 or less can attend the school for free. The new program, the most generous in the eight-school Ivy League, will begin in September, the school said in a statement. Its plan also reduces the amount families with combined incomes of $60,000 to $80,000 will have to pay.
``These increases in financial aid build on and extend out emphasis on recruiting students from low-income backgrounds and send a clear signal to middle-class families who have all too often felt that Harvard and other leading institutions are out of reach,´´ Harvard President Lawrence Summers, 51, said in a statement.
Harvard's program builds on one Summers started two years ago that waived tuition for families earning less than $40,000, making the school the first in the Ivy League to offer such a plan. Since then, Yale and Princeton universities and the University of Pennsylvania have all announced similar programs, as has Stanford University.
Harvard, which has a $25.9 billion endowment -- the largest in the United States -- set its tuition, room, board and mandatory fees at $43,655 last week.
The American DREAM..a free Harvard education! Woo-hoo..
Marking his territory.
""Is Fox looking for a job picking lettuce?""
Give up 6 million a year? Nah.
Come to think of it, I wish someone would aks El Presidente Arbusto the same question.
All we have to do is use the same laws that Mexico uses against their illegals ... there'd be a rush to the border to get back home .....
His handlers better hope I don't spot him because I'll be screaming "go home and take the rest of your illegals back with you".
Of course he knows that without the US as a "safety valve," Mexicans would be marching in the street demanding true economic reform.
ABSOLUTELY CORRECT
I have lived here in southern California all my life. I was born in Los Angeles and have seen the changes over the decades. My mother happends to be hispanic who came to this country 50 years ago Today, I was not proud to be half-hispanic and a Californian. I was saddened and to a certain extent disgusted that Speaker Fabian Nunez(a card carrying member of MEChA) introduced Vicente Fox in spanish rather than English. I am wondering whether Speaker of the Assembly was aiming his speech toward the minority in this great state and forgetting about the majority.
Ping
"Fox is doing a mexican hat dance in his hotel room right now after hearing about the amnesty bill being approved"
And ain't that the truth!!
Our battle is not with the Senators who voted on the "Senate Version" on the bill....the two bill are "oceans" apart.. with the house version being a MUCH BETTER BILL !! our battle is with the Senators who will go to conference with house.. which I just found out will be ALL MEMBERS of the Judiciary Committee and then some additional Senators yet to be named by Reid and Frist !!!...
WE NEED TO LET THESE FOLKS KNOW that we SUPPORT THE HOUSE VERSION !! NOT THE SENATE VERSION !!! now get er done !!
---> for now we can focus our efforts on the JUDICIARY COMMITTEE MEMEBERS !!!
Arlen Specter Orrin G. Hatch Patrick J. Leahy Charles E. Grassley Edward M. Kennedy Jon Kyl Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Mike DeWine Hrbert Kohl Jeff Sessions Dianne Feinstein Lindsey Graham Russell D. Feingold John Cornyn Charles E. Schumer Sam Brownback Richard J. Durbin Tom Coburn
I have written an OPEN LETTER to the conferees and I encouge EVERYONE who cares about this to do the same.... feel free to copy/edit/distribute my letter..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.