Thread: The California governator responds/replies!

<begin quote>

This was in response to my begging him to say no to the DREAM act, which he seems to have ignored in his form letter response:

Thank you for your email regarding illegal immigration. As an
immigrant, I can identify with the desire to come to this country. While
growing up, I had a dream to come to America. And since then, I have seen
firsthand that the United States - a nation of immigrants and a nation of
laws - is the most generous nation in the world.

But our generosity toward people who want to immigrate to America and
work hard cannot come at the expense of securing our international
borders. The first order of business for the federal government is to
safeguard our borders. Last year, I asked officials in Washington, DC, to
better fund these security requirements. As a result of my efforts, the
federal government has made substantial progress in increasing the
number of Border Patrol agents and expanding the technology used in border
security.

I have also encouraged federal legislation to criminalize border
tunnels that are used for smuggling. Since the September 11, 2001, terror
attacks, 40 transitional tunnels have been found along the U.S. border, 21
of which were on the California-Mexico border. At this year's Border
Governors Conference, I continued to lead the charge in support of
bills by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman David Dreier that would
criminalize
these dangerous access points to our nation.

The cost of incarcerating illegal aliens who commit crimes is estimated
at $750 million each year, an expense California taxpayers continue to
bear. I have urged, and will continue to seek, more federal funding
from President Bush and the United States Congress to reimburse our
state for the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens. My efforts last year
led to a $100 million increase for the federal State Criminal Alien
Assistance Program.

In addition, I have committed nearly 1,000 California National Guard
troops to help secure our southern border. This unprecedented deployment
of troops - the largest commitment of any state in the nation - has
already resulted in a substantial decrease in the number of individuals
who are entering California illegally and demonstrates my commitment to
being part of the solution to the problem of illegal immigration.

I also called on our nation's officials to attack the problem, not the
people, in crafting a comprehensive immigration policy. I support
efforts to ensure that our businesses have the employees they need but have
been unable to find in our existing workforce and that immigrants are
treated with the respect they deserve. While I oppose amnesty, I support
a common-sense temporary worker program so that every person in our
nation is documented.

Immigration is an important issue that deeply affects California, and I
thank you for writing. I value the comments of people like you who
care about the future of our great state.

Sincerely,


Arnold Schwarzenegger

<\end quote>

It's strange that he didn't mention he was governor! The email address
was governor@govmail.ca.gov so I'm assuming it's from him or one of his flunkies.

I'm surprised he actually referred to them as illegal aliens.

Even though he is related to the Kennedys by marriage Arnold hasn't polished his politician-speak.

OK - how does one 'criminalize a tunnel'?

Also, I realize getting federal money would help the state of California and I do appreicate their problems - although even as a TExan I probably can't really know it. The fact is, getting 'federal' money just means getting money from the rest of the nation's taxpayers who can ill afford it.

Now if some politician would come up with the novel idea of making these employers pay a 'head tax' on each and every illegal - that might help.

Then his talk of 'temporary workers' and 'treated with the respect they deserve' smacks of amnesty to me. At least he didn't refer to them as 'guest workers'.