http://usatoday.printthis.clickability. ... nerID=1660

Schwarzenegger talks tough on illegal immigration
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the nation's policy on preventing illegal immigration is too lax, telling a group of newspaper publishers the United States needs to "close the borders."

Schwarzenegger said, "This is a very important debate. I think it's necessary that we solve the problems rather than try to run the other way."

"Close the borders in California and all across Mexico and in the United States," Schwarzenegger said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Newspaper Association of America. "Because I think it is just unfair to have all those people coming across, have the borders open the way it is, and have this kind of lax situation."

The Republican governor also suggested exploring several policy proposals aimed at addressing the immigration crisis, including President Bush's proposed guest worker program and legislation sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to pave the way for undocumented workers already living in the United States to attain legal status.

"This is a very important debate. I think it's necessary that we solve the problems rather than try to run the other way. It's a hot issue," Schwarzenegger said.

Schwarzenegger's remarks were later clarified by his spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, who said the governor supports greater security along the nation's borders but was not calling for the borders to be completely closed.

"The governor has talked before about the need to ensure that immigrants are put on a path toward fully participating in California's economy," Thompson said. "But he feels they need to enter the country the right way, and must not undermine important security issues. He feels that the border needs to be secure."

It's not the first time Schwarzenegger, who emigrated to the United States from Austria as a young man, has become entangled in the emotional debate surrounding illegal immigration. During the recall election, Schwarzenegger was repeatedly asked to explain why he had voted for Proposition 187, a 1994 ballot measure to deny many basic services to illegal immigrants. And shortly after entering office, he derailed a law passed and signed by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis that would have allowed illegal immigrants to apply for drivers licenses.

In February, Schwarzenegger endorsed Congressional legislation authorizing the construction of a fence along California's border with Mexico. The proposal has sparked opposition from the state's Coastal Commission, as well as many environmentalists and Democrats.

In a statement, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said Schwarzenegger's comments reflected badly on the state's "productive" relationship with Mexico.

"The Governor should ratchet down his rhetoric and retreat from this narrow-minded approach to immigration policy," Nunez said. "Closing our borders to commerce and culture is an idea that comes from political extremists, not rational policy-makers."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hasn't he said this before?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... igration_2

Schwarzenegger Sorry for Border Comment

Wed Apr 20, 5:30 PM ET

By TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Blaming his faulty English, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said he misspoke when he suggested that California's border with Mexico should be closed to help solve the nation's illegal immigration problem.

Schwarzenegger made the remark while speaking to newspaper editors and publishers Tuesday. He said he intended to say the border should be secured.

"Yesterday was a total screw-up in the words I used," the Republican said at a news conference. "Because instead of closing, I meant securing. I think maybe my English, I need to go back to school and study a little bit."

The contrition seemed to quell the issue at the Capitol. Hispanic lawmakers — many of whom are also rival Democrats — said they accepted his apology.

"I don't think the governor identifies himself with that kind of rhetoric," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Democrat. "I don't know why he said it, but I'm very pleased he has totally removed himself from those folks who espouse that kind of hatred."

Nunez's office, however, pointed out that Schwarzenegger said something very similar in a 2003 interview with Fox TV host Bill O'Reilly.

I also distinctly remember that interview with O'Reilly, and Bill later commented that he felt Arnie wasn't tough enough on the border.

Let me see if I can try to find that transcript on Fox News's website.

EDIT: found it. The interview was long, so I've pasted just the relevant part. He did indeed say "close". This whole semantics issue is pretty silly on both sides, though.

====

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97053,00.html

O'REILLY: Continuing now with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who may become the next governor of California in October.

Incredibly, the state of California has about two million undocumented aliens running around, and Governor Davis just signed a bill that will give them driver's licenses. If you're elected, will you rescind that?

SCHWARZENEGGER: I definitely would rescind the driver's license, because I think it is unfair to the rest of the people of California. They have now driver's licensing required of people from all over the world that can come and get driver's licenses without any background check. I think it is ridiculous. It's unsafe for the state. It creates big security problems here. The law enforcement community is against that. The federal government is against that. The attorney general of California, Bill Lockyer, is against that, and I am definitely against it. I think, like I said, it will create serious security problems.

O'REILLY: OK. Now, one of the reasons you have that problem to begin with is the border is a sieve from San Diego right out to Imperial County. People can come into California. Are you going to do anything about the border? If so, what?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, the first thing I would like to do is, is when I become governor, work together with other governors of neighboring states and of states that are next to Mexico to really work on those problems and immigration problems, you know, I think including New York. Because I think if you talk to the federal government, we have to close the borders, make them tighter, especially...

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Yes, but how do you do that? I mean, it's been going on now for 20 years, how do you do it?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Negotiate with them. I think we have to get together as governors and really go there and lobby heavily and just really let them know that we cannot continue with this policy, because, you know, people will continue coming in.

O'REILLY: Yes, I know, but do you have any ideas that you can offer the other governors or the president of the United States? All of them seem to be confused about the issue. Do you have any ideas on how you can control the borders?

SCHWARZENEGGER: I think we just have to -- I think we just have to bring leadership there and really make sure that the -- explain the case, that how bad it is for the state and how bad it is for the country to do that. Because it sends the wrong message to other people that are filing officially for immigration, to get their green cards and their visas here and all that stuff.

We have to work on those kind of issues together, the border states, because...

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Would you be opposed to militarizing the border, putting the National Guard in California down there, to back up the border patrol? Would you be opposed to that?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I'm not opposed to that, but I'd really have to check it out and really become much more an expert on how to protect the borders in order to make the -- to stop that from happening.

But also, I think, there's a lot of money that we can get from the federal government to help us with the costs of the undocumented...

O'REILLY: Maybe...

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: They're broke too. They don't have any money either.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I know they're broke, but remember one thing, that during the last year they cut out $400 million from the after-school programs, the federal government. I went there and started negotiating and working with the White House and with the legislators, and we got the $400 million back.

O'REILLY: Yeah, you got it back.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: You've got to have a plan to ...

SCHWARZENEGGER: But Bill, let me tell you something, Bill, I never accept no for an answer. It doesn't exist. Anything is possible. I am absolutely convinced that we can work together with the federal government and slow down the flow of illegal immigrants.

And the other thing we have to do is, we have to solve the problem with the visas. I think that people that are undocumented, we have to come up with a way, like John McCain just recently talked about a visa, you know, working permit of some sort, for foreign workers. They get a special permit to work...

O'REILLY: A guest worker permit, right?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Exactly. When you make it legitimate ...

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: It's all possible ...

(CROSSTALK)

SCHWARZENEGGER: It needs leadership. It needs leadership.

O'REILLY: OK. But it also needs courage, because you have to stop the flow, and to stop the flow, you have to take, as you know, you used the word before, you have to have discipline.

Oh, his English, huh? Sure, Arnie, sure....

Why doesn't he like the brown skinned peoples?

He likes them to work in his kitchens, to landscape his yard and wash his Hummer but not to allow them to have a driver’s license.

I can't help when I read Arnold's comments, but to hear the guy who does his voice on Conan. Cracks me up everytime no matter what he says.

And then what, close the east, west, and northern lines as well? This is so stupid. What we should be doing is making it so that people can get educations in Mexico and have reasonable jobs in Mexico so that they don't feel so desparate the need to leave to earn money to support their families at any cost. Improve the living conditions and the socio-economic state of Mexico and people will be more willing to stay their and "work it" than come here. Keep it slummy in most places with less that 1% of the people (the leaders and drug lords) retaining all the wealth, and of course people are going to want to leave. Yes, that is a grand sweeping generalization, but what makes more sense is to fix the things wrong with the country so that people will want to stay there, not leave it the way it is and close the borders so they can't get out.

How would Arnold have felt if we closed the doors to him when he came to this country (regardless of legality)?

Also, how about making some improved incentive for people to become legal and educating people to it? Doesn't that make a bit more sense?

Oh of course not, we have to "keep the people stupid" -- I forgot.

Because if all of these people were legal and educated, the might have actually voted, and Arnold would perhaps not have been elected in the first place.....

c-

Shouldn't that be Mexico's duty to do so? If we try to help, would we be interfering in their affairs?

I'd agree that's it's Mexico's problem to make that country a better place to live economically and all that, although there's a lot of people there that aren't doing too poorly, even if they aren't living like Americans do. But hey, it's not like everybody wants the American lifestyle. And I'm sure Arnold wouldn't have enjoyed having the borders closed on him, but he did come here legally so that's not even an issue in this case. If all the Mexicans coming here actually applied to enter legally and were continuously denied access because they were Mexicans then I'd have a beef with it, but as it stands, for me it's hard to feel sorry for people that are breaking laws to enter this country regardless of how things are in the homeland.

Personally, things wouldn't have to get very bad for me before I started breaking laws that I considered minor in order to make it.

I wouldn't really consider a country's immigration laws minor, but that's me.

You might if you lived in a different country.

I suppose if people were out to kill me in some sort of genocide thing I might reconsider it, but if people can enter here legally, like many people do, then why can't these people? Yeah, I'm sure it costs money and time, but geez, at least it'd be easier for you to live here if you weren't afraid of "the man" coming to get you all the time. Plus employers couldn't screw you over with low wages.

I don't pretend to know what situation Mexicans are dealing with, I doubt it's genocide. But since they're willing to risk dying in the Arizona desert and live as a fugitive here in order to work a shit job over here, I assume it's more than a lack of ice cream for dessert.

I don't know what is to be done, but I think c2 had a point. Maybe we should be working with Fox and asking, why the fuck are people coming here and how can we make them more content in Mexico?

How is ANY of that the responsibility of the United States or any country not named "Mexico"?

Theoretically, yes. In Reality, we already interfere with their affairs, just like we do everyone elses. Obviously NAFTA failed.... time for a new plan....

Same question I asked.

So if it's Mexico's responsibility to take care of Mexico, why the rant?