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CALIFORNIA
Governor defends border watchers
Minutemen likely to be discussed on visit to Baja governor
- Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Thursday, September 22, 2005


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who heads to Mexico on Friday to discuss border and education issues, congratulated the federal government this week for improving border enforcement -- and stuck by his defense of a citizens border patrol group as a neighborhood watch group that is not harming anybody.

Schwarzenegger, in an interview with The Chronicle, addressed the issue of California-Mexico relations and illegal immigration before his trip to Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, to meet with Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy.

The governor said he'll talk about trade, cultural and educational exchanges, and tourism during the meeting.

But asked how he would address Mexican concern about the anti-illegal immigration citizens' patrol called the Minutemen, Schwarzenegger did not retreat from his past support for the group.

"It's no different than if you have a neighborhood watch person there that's watching your children at the playground. I don't see it any different," he said. "Or, if I have my personal guards at the house, because I feel like the police (are) not going to be able to take care of the job because they are overwhelmed. It's just that private citizens take on the responsibility."

The governor stressed the Minutemen organization should be held to high standards. "(The) key to the whole thing that we have no violations, and we have no one carrying guns, and no one is harassing people," he said. "But they notify the border patrol if they miss somebody -- end of story. That's the mission.

"I think no one in Mexico should be offended by that, because we are not harming anybody."

The governor is scheduled to be accompanied to Mexico by Sunne Wright McPeak, the state's business, transportation and housing secretary, in addition to Homeland Security Director Matthew Bettenhausen and Education Secretary Alan Bersin. It will be the second meeting this week for Schwarzenegger and Mexican officials. The governor met Tuesday with Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico's undersecretary for North American affairs in Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger, whose poll numbers have fallen precipitously among Latino voters in California, could be in for some tough criticism in Mexico -- where officials and average citizens have bridled at his suggestions that the Minutemen organization, which President Bush criticized as vigilantes, could be a positive force on the border.

Political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe said Schwarzenegger will no doubt take heat for his comments on the Minutemen and the border.

She said among California's Latino voters, "he has gone down dramatically in his approval ratings (because of) the Minutemen." She noted that while Schwarzenegger drew at least a third of the Latino votes in the October 2003 recall election, current polls show more than 70 percent of Latinos now disapprove of his job performance.

"I have to believe that this is what Arnold truly believes -- that there's no political calculation in it," she said. But there is also a strong possibility that the governor's get-tough comments on immigration reflect that "he's adopted a Bush-like strategy" as he nears the special election.

In the 2004 presidential race, Bebitch Jeffe recalled, the Bush team decided to "just go for the party base and get their people out, and pray for an overall low turnout election. And I think that is part of what's going on here."

Schwarzenegger said that in two previous conferences for U.S. and Mexican border governors, "I made it very clear that we take care of our problems our way, and they take care of their problems their way," he said. "We maybe don't agree with the way we take care of it, but we can respect one another. "

Schwarzenegger, in the interview Tuesday, praised federal officials for responding to his requests for more border guards and better security to help stem an increased flow of illegal immigrants. He specifically noted Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's announcement this month that the Bush administration intends to speed the way to finish the final 3.5 miles of a 14-mile $32 million border fence running through San Diego to the Pacific Ocean.

"My preference is that the federal government takes care of the issue, and I have to say that the federal government has come through with their promise," he said.

Though California environmentalists have complained that the Bush administration has waved environmental regulations to complete the border fence quickly, Schwarzenegger said, "Chertoff has now made the commitment of finishing the fence ... in an environmentally sound way. That was terrific."

And, he said, the federal government has also delivered on its promise to staff more guards on the Mexico-U.S. border, adding "that's the reason why we did not declare a state of emergency" on the border as have Democratic governors in New Mexico and Arizona.

"What I have been saying all year (is) secure the borders, which people call prejudice ... but it's not," the governor said. "We love Mexico, and we want to do business with Mexico. We love to have our people go down there as tourists and to enjoy themselves ... and we like to have trade with them. They are our friends."