Thread: Rick Perry - Idea of border fence 'preposterous'

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16184650.htm

Perry: Idea of border fence 'preposterous'
By JOHN MORITZ
STAR-TELEGRAM AUSTIN BUREAU

RICK PERRY
More photosAUSTIN -- Gov. Rick Perry told the Texas Border Coalition on Wednesday that erecting a wall to separate the United States from Mexico is a "preposterous idea" and that proposed legislation to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants is needlessly divisive.

"Good neighbors do not foster fear and engage in divisive appeals; they seek solutions," the newly elected Republican told the coalition, which seeks to improve economic conditions in South Texas.

"Divisive appeals do nothing to solve problems, even if they do score some temporary political points."

Perry's speech during a conference at a downtown Austin hotel and his question-and-answer session with reporters afterward drew praise from the state's largest business lobby and from one of the nation's leading liberal voices.

But the East Texas lawmaker advocating legislation to prohibit illegal immigrants' children from becoming citizens, attending public schools or receiving other state services said he was disappointed.

"He says my bill is divisive, but what we have in place now is actually what's divisive," said state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. "We have people coming into this country illegally ... and then receiving automatic citizenship.

"I believe that's wrong, and I filed this bill so that this practice can be challenged in the courts."

Perry did not back away from his calls for greater support from Washington in securing the border, and he even called for federally built detention centers to house illegal immigrants as they face the deportation process. But he also emphasized the need for a guest-worker program for Mexican nationals who seek employment in Texas but not necessarily U.S. citizenship.

"We can have security that does not compromise our economy," Perry said. "The vast majority [of illegal immigrants] are economic migrants who are seeking hope."

Bill Hammond, a former Republican lawmaker from Dallas who heads the Texas Association of Business, said Perry was correct to point out that Texas' economy is reliant on a labor force that includes noncitizens. And he warned against any efforts by the Legislature to circumvent federal law.

"The governor is absolutely correct to call on Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform. That's not the Legislature's job," Hammond said.

The remarks put Hammond in lock step with Deece Eckstein, a one-time aide to former Democratic Gov. Ann Richards who runs the liberal People for the American Way's Texas branch.

"We welcome Governor Perry's new, more constructive tone on immigration issues," Eckstein said. "He understood one of the central messages of the recent elections -- that immigrant bashing is not only mean-spirited and counterproductive, it is also politically unpopular, especially in Texas.

"Governor Perry realizes what these legislators apparently do not -- that the economic and social future of Texas depends on a healthy, well-educated work force that, like it or not, will continue to be increasingly Hispanic."

Perry also stressed the need for policies at the state level and in Washington that promote economic development in Mexico. In the short run, he said, a fence in strategic places along the border could help staunch the flow of illegal immigrants, but a permanent physical barrier would not work. "Building a wall across the entire border is preposterous," he said. What a wall would accomplish, he said, would be to "really help the ladder business."

Ana Yanez Correa, who advocates for immigrant rights, said Perry is taking the proper tone heading into the 140-day legislative session that begins Jan. 9. "Programs that are full of fear are not the message that Texas should be sending, especially considering that we are a border state," she said.

BORDER WEB SITE TEST OVER

A Web site showing live footage of Texas' border with Mexico is down. The governor's office said that's because the monthlong test of the site is over.

State officials are preparing a request for companies to bid on the contract for www.texasborderwatch.com, said Robert Black, Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman.

The state spent $200,000 setting up and maintaining the Web site, Black said. Cameras were donated by companies expected to bid on the project.

Since Nov. 3, more than 220,000 users registered on the site, which said it got nearly 28 million hits.

Cameras showed different, unnamed parts of the border area. Viewers could help identify possible illegal crossings.

Black said he expects the site to be operational again in 2007.

-- Patrick McGee

ARRESTS DROP

EL PASO -- The number of illegal immigrants being arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border has dropped sharply in the first two months of this fiscal year, with some Border Patrol sectors seeing a drop of up to 63 percent.

Arrests along the border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California have dropped about 27 percent, or by nearly 43,000, since Oct. 1, compared with last year, Border Patrol officials in Washington said.

Reports of the decrease come about a month after Border Patrol officials announced a nearly 9 percent drop in arrests from 2004 to 2005.

-- The Associated Press


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John Moritz, 512-476-4294 j moritz@star-telegram.com

Good neighbors - don't cross your border.

Perry got back from his building wealth seminar in Mexico and he is out to push his personal wealth agenda. Guess he's getting a kickback from the president.

Dixie

"We can have security that does not compromise our economy," Perry said. "The vast majority [of illegal immigrants] are economic migrants who are seeking hope."


I really am tired of this line. He knows that other migrants with not so pure at heart intentions are crossing also. Normally they always walkout the little Mexican mom with a female child at this point to get our sympathy.
What a bunch of Texas bull S*** from this guy. He is a paid political Ad from Mexico.

federally built detention centers ...now who sre these for exactly....if you think illegals...think again