Governor says he'll discuss immigration woes with Fox
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Governor says he'll discuss immigration woes with Fox
Assembly speaker says visit will boost state's links with Mexico
SACRAMENTO - 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 today.
"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 today 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 this 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 Núñez, 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.
Núñez 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 Núñez'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 today's session will be his first with Fox as governor, his office said.
