http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005 ... 2810.shtml

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Friday, May 27, 2005 12:25 a.m. EDT
L.A. Mayor: Mexico Will Shape My Policies

Los Angeles Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that Mexico will play an important role in shaping his policies, reports Mexico's El Universal Online.

"We are starting a new era. Instead of closing the borders, as stated by Schwarzenegger, we should look at our border as an opportunity," Villaraigosa said. "This is a time of great importance, not just for us to rediscover our roots, but looking to create a mutually beneficial relationship," added the city's first Latino mayor since 1872.

The top L.A. Democrat lamented that the recent passage by Congress of The Real ID Act, if signed into law, would prevent illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses.

"Politicians in the United States need to understand that immigrants come here for the same reason that immigrants have always come: to work," Villaraigosa told El Universal. "Instead of punishing and demonizing them, we should try to integrate them."

Villaraigosa also told El Universal that he would not support policies that supposedly persecute the city's large migrant population.

"I support Special Order 40 [prohibiting police from making migration-related arrests]," he said. "We need our police officers to fight gangs and organized crime. That will keep them more than busy."