Free Republic

We teach our children that, if they tell the truth, they won't get into trouble. It didn't work out that way for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, during a series of town hall meetings last week, put his finger on an unpleasant -- but undeniable -- facet of the immigration debate and got pummeled for it by right-wing talk radio hosts and bloggers who can't accept the truth. Schwarzenegger warns that we are entering "a dangerous area.'' He thinks we shouldn't blame those who want to come to America but rather the federal government, which is "not securing our borders.''...

WITH CALIFORNIA political leaders already behaving illogically and erratically on illegal immigration, I have a sense of dread about what they'll do after the May 1 job walkout by backers of amnesty for illegal immigrants. For years, illegal-immigration policy in California has been driven by fear -- fear of being unfairly labeled "anti-Latino" is one reason the California Legislature doesn't study basic questions, such as, "What does it cost the average California taxpayer to support an illegal immigrant?" Nervous Sacramento politicians don't talk openly about crucial policy issues, such as the cost to California's infrastructure from illegal immigration. Now, even...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prominent Latino leaders in California on Tuesday played down death threats apparently sparked by the divisive debate over illegal immigration. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told reporters on Monday that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante had both been targets of "disturbing and hateful death threats." "Hate, racism and intolerance are never accepted in our public debates," said Schwarzenegger, himself an immigrant from Austria. "That is not what California stands for. The greatness of California is its rich diversity." Police are investigating the threats, which came in postcards, e-mails and an Internet...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that prominent public officials of Mexican heritage, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have recently received racially motivated death threats. At a news conference in the Capitol, Schwarzenegger said he had asked district attorneys throughout the state to take extra precautions against hate-based crimes. Villaraigosa and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante have both "received disturbing and hateful death threats," the governor said. The governor's advisors had heard about the threats from a Sacramento news report. They told the governor, who decided to make a public statement. (snip) Villaraigosa told KCAL-TV Channel 9 news late...

Prominent Hispanic elected officials, including the mayor of Los Angeles and California's lieutenant governor, have received threats in the midst of a heated national debate over immigration policy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday. Schwarzenegger told reporters about the threats against Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, both Democrats, during a news conference in his office Monday. "There's something very important that I need to speak to my fellow Californians about," he said. "It has come to my attention that our Lieutenant Gov. Bustamante and our Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa and other elected officials of Mexican heritage have received...