N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson jumps into immigration debate, urges border meeting

By Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 9, 2010; 5:10 PM

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- former U.N. ambassador, former presidential candidate -- is ever the diplomat.

The fight he's currently mediating involves neighboring Arizona's immigration law. Richardson (D) is staunchly opposed to the legislation and lobbied Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) hard not to sign it.

The law, which allows police to check the immigration status of people they have stopped or detained for a possible unrelated offense, is the most restrictive immigration measure in the country and has ignited a national debate on civil rights and immigration policy.

Richardson said the law has created a "serious breach" between the U.S. border states and their Mexican neighbors. He is trying to fix it by inserting himself into a negotiation to keep a long-standing meeting of U.S. and Mexican governors from falling apart.

The Border Governors Conference, scheduled for September, was to be held in Phoenix. The six Mexican governors who were due to attend angrily pulled out in protest of Arizona's anti-illegal immigration approach and asked to meet elsewhere. Brewer canceled the meeting altogether.

Richardson has stepped in to calm the skirmish. He's looking for another venue -- maybe Washington, Santa Fe or a city in Texas or California. He's told the Mexican governors that the meeting should go on.

"I feel very strongly, and so do the Mexican governors, that we need to have the conference because this is a conference that has been going for 30 years," Richardson said. "It's a conference that diffuses a lot of problems."

Illegal immigration will be topic No. 1, but the governors also plan to discuss border violence, education and issues such as the H1N1 virus.

The six Mexican governors -- who represent Sonora, Baja California, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas -- told Richardson they would come to the meeting anywhere but Arizona. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said he would attend a relocated meeting. Brewer has not said whether she would, and the office of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said he would not.

In a recent letter to the Mexican governors, Brewer said her state's immigration policy has been "misunderstood and misinterpreted" and that Arizona continues to believe in the importance of its relationship with Mexico. She encouraged the Mexican governors to meet with law enforcement officials in her state and see how they plan to enforce the law.

The Mexican governors are "very upset," Richardson said. "There's tension on both sides."

The tension ratcheted up this week when the Obama administration filed suit against Arizona to try to stop the law. Richardson was very pleased with Justice Department decision.

"Even more important than the lawsuit is the injunction," he said. "If the injunction doesn't go through, Arizona's law will spread to other states."

He points out that New Mexico "treats immigrants differently" than Arizona does. In his state, immigrants with and without documents can get driver's licenses and college scholarships.

"We try to integrate the immigrant into our community," Richardson said. "As the only Hispanic governor and a governor that represents a state that's 43 percent Hispanic, I felt I had to be active on this."

For the lame duck governor, resolving the border meeting will be one of his last official acts. Richardson, who has been in public office since 1983, will end his final term as governor in December. What's next?

"I plan to ride off into the Western sunset," he said

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