Thread: Arnold Schwarzenegger declared 'persona non grata'

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au

Arnie declared 'persona non grata'
From correspondents in La Paz, Mexico
18jan06

THE assembly for the Mexican state of Baja California has declared movie star California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger "persona non grata" over his stance towards Mexican immigrants working in the US.

"The Terminator has forgotten that he too arrived in the United States as an immigrant and he now backs racist policies against immigrant workers," deputy Arturo Pena Valle said after the vote, referring to Mr Schwarzenegger's most famous screen role.
The regional assembly also denounced proposals in the US Congress to construct a fortified wall on the US-Mexico border to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.

Mr Schwarzenegger has opposed proposed legislation in California that would allow undocumented workers to obtain temporary driver's licenses.

The northeastern Mexican state lies along California's southern border.

http://www.mercurynews.com

Posted on Sun, Jan. 22, 2006

Cross-border mix-up

News reports rocketed through Mexico and made it as far as Australia and France late last week that the legislature in Baja California Sur, the Mexican state south of the border state Baja California, voted to declare Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ``persona non grata'' there, based on his ``racist'' policies regarding Mexican immigrants in California.

``The Terminator has forgotten that he, too, came to the United States as an immigrant,'' Deputy President Arturo Peña Valle was quoted as saying.

Only one problem: Rather than ``Hasta la vista, baby,'' Baja California Sur officials said it was more of a case of ``True Lies.''

The Mercury News obtained a bulletin issued by the Baja California Sur government communications office saying the article was false and was written by a reporter who didn't attend the legislative debate and never interviewed Valle or others quoted in his story.

Instead, the bulletin said, the legislature last week was decrying House Resolution 4437, the measure passed by the House of Representatives in December that would build more fencing along the Mexican border and criminalize illegal entry to the United States.

Schwarzenegger's office initially was puzzled by reports of the vote to ban him.

``We have a great relationship with the border governors,'' said spokeswoman Margita Thompson. ``The governor's mindset is focused on solving problems of mutual concern and focusing on areas of mutual benefit.''