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Posted on Fri, Jul. 14, 2006

Schwarzenegger faults Congress for deadlock on border reforms

MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger scolded Congress Friday for failing to enact immigration reforms, saying lawmakers should put aside election-year jitters and a new round of hearings and get to work.

Showing growing impatience with Washington - and his own party - the Republican governor warned that illegal crossings and drug-running will persist at the border as long as the House and Senate remain deadlocked.

"Don't run around the country now ... and have all these hearings. You've had for the last 20 years the time to have the hearings," Schwarzenegger said in remarks to members of the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Congress needs to "do the work and be responsible," he said.

Schwarzenegger has long faulted the federal government for lax security at the borders and praised efforts by the Minuteman civilian border patrols to fill the gap.

California has more illegal immigrants than any other state - an estimated 2.4 million, more than the entire population of Nebraska.

On June 1, Schwarzenegger agreed to send the California National Guard to the Mexican border to help the federal government's effort to curb illegal immigration. But he has called the approach flawed, saying a comprehensive solution is needed that would include a temporary worker program along with tougher border security.

"I'm very concerned right now that the federal government has been, you know, too lax about that issue," the governor said. "They have to figure out a way of reforming the immigration laws so that we can bring - legally - workers into the United States."

The House and Senate are holding competing hearings this summer on immigration, with the House focusing on tighter border enforcement and the Senate promoting an approach that includes a pathway to legalization for many illegal immigrants.

In a global economy, workers need to be able to cross borders as needed, particularly for industries like agriculture and construction, Schwarzenegger said.

Without reform in Washington, "Everyone is doing everything illegally," he said.