Posted on 05/24/2006 9:06:03 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said he will tell Mexican President Vicente Fox that his government needs to do more to stop illegal immigration into the U.S. when the two meet Thursday.
"I will reiterate my positions 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," Schwarzenegger said.
But he said he would not be confrontational and suggest that Mexico pay for health care, education, incarceration and other immigration-related costs incurred by the state.
"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."
Fox is scheduled to spend Thursday and Friday in California at the tail end of a four-day trip to the United States. It will be his first visit to the state since 2001.
It comes as illegal immigration has resurfaced as one of the nation's top political issues, prompting calls by conservatives for tighter borders and rallies for immigrants' rights in the nation's major cities.
The U.S. Senate is prepared to vote on legislation that would provide tougher border security while giving millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens. Meanwhile, the Bush administration is preparing to send thousands of National Guard troops to the border to back up the Border Patrol.
Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he was prepared to commit using California National Guard troops as part of that effort.
Fox plans to speak to a joint session of the California Legislature on Thursday afternoon, then meet with the governor.
It will be the 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. Fox also spoke to a joint session during his 2001 visit.
On Wednesday, Fox told the Utah Legislature that his country is making economic improvements that will remove the need for people to cross the border to look for jobs.
"Until recently, Mexico was trapped in a vicious cycle of economic crisis, recurring crisis," he said. "But we have set out to change that. Today, Mexico has the safest, most stable economy of our lifetime."
Schwarzenegger said he and Fox also will talk about how to increase trade between California and Mexico, already the state's top trading partner, and about how to tackle mutual environmental problems.
"Pollution does not recognize that there are political boundaries," he said.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, suggested Fox's visit would help reinvigorate a relationship between California and Mexico that he said has languished since Schwarzenegger took office in 2003.
Nunez said when he visited Mexico last year "a lot of people were saying, 'Is California still interested in Mexico?' I said, 'Of course, we are.'"
"I think President Fox's visit helps to re-establish that relationship," he said. "It helps to demonstrate the ties continue to be strong."
Schwarzenegger said Nunez's comments were "his opinion."
"I am excited (that) since I've come into office we have increased our trade with Mexico 16 percent or so," he said. "We have enjoyed a great relationship."
Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Democrat Gray Davis, had six meetings with Mexican presidents during his nearly five years in office, including three in Mexico. Schwarzenegger has traveled to Mexico twice, but Thursday's session will be his first with Fox as governor, his office said.
The governor said his failure to travel to Mexico to meet with Fox didn't "have much to do with priority. It has to do with circumstances," and that he plans to lead a trade mission to Mexico soon.
One topic Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't bring up in his meeting with Fox is his two vetoes of legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants to qualify for California driver's licenses.
"He may bring it up," Schwarzenegger said. "I will not bring it up. I am perfectly fine the way things are right now."
He said the bills would not have assured that the identity of the license applicant was accurate.
Assembly Minority Leader George Plescia, R-La Jolla, said he also requested a meeting with Fox to discuss illegal immigration and the extradition of murder suspects from Mexico to California but was turned down because of lack of time.
Plescia said Fox's decision was "unfortunate" because he agreed to meet with the Legislature's Democratic leaders before his speech.
"It's important to let the president know there certainly are differing views on various issues as far as our relationship to our neighbors to the south," Plescia said.
Schwarzenegger's boot to Fox's @ss all the way to the southern border should be the only 'conversation' that occurs...coupled with instructions for the illegals to remove themselves within 30 days or face deportation with extreme prejudice.
"Mexico is our friend" says Schwarzenegger!
Ya, keep saying that till they invade your Governors mansion and run you off!
I guess Schwarzenegger is the best we true conservatives can expect from here. He's still a bust IMO. I also believe that the longer he is around these CA pols the more he now sounds like them. God help this country.
Why the h*ll not? Those are my tax dollars you idiot. Fox has not spent one cent to reap the $20 billion/year sent to Mexico.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said he will tell Mexican President Vicente Fox that his government needs to do more to stop illegal immigration into the U.S. when the two meet Thursday.
He will speak on the basis of one girly man to another.
I'm not sure that they can come to any binding agreements.Fox will most likely be booted. Arnold's got a tough crowd in California. This looks like political grandstanding to me.
GOP Assemblyman Chuck DeVore will boycott El Presidente's speech tomorrow to the California legislature. FReepers
in the Golden State, call your Republican Assemblymen and Senators and ask that they do the same.
TALK TALK TALK. This gov has been so neutered he's sharing a penis with a fellow weight lifter. The more he talks the less comprehension he has. That's what happens to most in politics.
Oh that will go over big.
That is so untrue and I wish people would quit saying it. For all the harping about the Dems revisionist history, Republicans seem to do it a lot when it comes to CA elections.
How can Mexico pay for services incurred by the state by immigrants when the Mexican Government cannot pay for the education or health care of their poor let alone manage the corruption in their government?
have to explain to mr fox he is just a girly man
Arnold is certainly not "the best" that conservatives can "expect" in CA. To that extent, you're right.
However, he is the only option in 2006.
Exactly!
No he is not. I won't vote for him period. Not then, not now, not ever.
Fox speaks perfect english, infact he spoke it with an anglo accent until he entered politics.
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