http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... k0901.html

Napolitano planning trip to Mexico on border issue

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

Gov. Janet Napolitano wants to take a trip to Mexico, along with the governors of California, Texas and New Mexico, to discuss illegal immigration with the country's newly elected president.

"All of us are really mad at Mexico and the federal government right now," Napolitano said. "I'm sorry, but they have got to do more."

Napolitano said she would make the trip as soon as she could.

She said the trip may include the governors of the northern states of Mexico that are also affected by immigration when Mexicans from states further south move north to cross to America.

"It's as huge a problem for them," Napolitano told a group of more than 100 Phoenix residents who attended Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten's monthly breakfast meeting Thursday near Paradise Valley Mall.

Winifred Green of Sunnyslope was in the audience and liked what she heard.

"I think she's trying, and I think she's got a lot of good ideas," said Green, vice president of operations for the Sunnyslope Village Alliance, a community organization. "(Napolitano) is not just sitting back, she's being aggressive. That will get her attention."

The governor, who said she was heading to Yuma later Thursday, told the audience that the border is in "much better shape than it was a year ago." She said that the Border Patrol reports decreases in illegal crossings and in drug and human trafficking.

"When people say nothing is being done about the border, they haven't been to the border," she said. "It's south."

The governor said that immigration, education and growth are the top three issues facing the state.

The federal government is "ineffective" and Washington, D.C., is "broken" when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration, Napolitano said. For example, one federal law requires that the federal government reimburse states for the cost of incarcerating undocumented immigrants. That isn't happening, so in May, Napolitano sent a bill to the U.S. Attorney General's Office.

"I sent them a bill for $238 million, and I got a reply from a low-level person in the Department of Justice," she said, generating laughter from the crowd.

After a dismissive response and waiting 30 days, she sent another bill. The second one included a late fee. "It's up to $270 million."

She said Arizona's tab for locking up undocumented immigrants in state prisons could cover the costs for all-day kindergarten, which is about $200 million.



Reach the reporter at monica.alonzo-dunsmoor@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2478.