Thread: New Mexico governor decries border fence

By JENNIFER TALHELM, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 12 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Blasting House Republicans' proposals to control immigration as a "monument to demagoguery," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urged the new Democratic Congress to pass a bill securing the border and enabling some illegal immigrants to gain citizenship.


The first step to fixing the immigration system should be reversing legislation signed this fall by President Bush authorizing a 700-mile fence at the Mexican border, said Richardson, who is eying a bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

"The Congress should abandon the fence, lock, stock and barrel," Richardson said Thursday in a speech at Georgetown University laying out a four-part plan for immigration overhaul. "It flies in the face of America as a symbol of freedom."

A Hispanic border governor, Richardson has been outspoken on immigration as Congress has struggled in the last year to deal with the nation's porous borders.

House Republicans have placed their emphasis on strong enforcement measures, while many senators and Bush have favored a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.

Richardson said the new Congress should follow the Senate's lead.

"The new political lineup in Washington means that Congress has the numbers to pass a comprehensive immigration reform law next year which the president will sign," he said. "We have a historic opportunity to solve a problem that is tearing our country apart. We must not miss this chance."

"Four realistic steps" must be taken, Richardson said: Securing the border, increasing legal immigration, preventing employers from hiring illegal workers and providing a path to legalization.

"But we must understand that building a fence will not in any way accomplish that objective," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061207/ap_ ... _the_trail

Richardson, the only thing you need to run for is the border .

I'd rather get rid of Richardson than the fence!! He's a poor example of a patriotic American!

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<--------- Hey Bill Richardson, LOOK HERE!!!!!!!

New Mexico already belongs to Mexico. The border has been wide open there for decades and the entire state is bilingual and binational and full of illegal drugs, crime, and corruption -- even rising up into the government.

Why should Richardson get any more federal money to pay for his own state's negligence in enforcing current immigration laws. He doesn't care about the rest of America or that his state is spoiling it for others.

Added to Home Page.
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=48128

This guys is toast in my opinion.

http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index ... 5&Itemid=2

Written by Bruce Daniels - ABQnewsSeeker
Thursday, 07 December 2006
Richardson to weigh in today in D.C. on one of our touchiest political issues.
12:45pm UPDATE: Some of you may be wondering how, in the absence of a fence, Gov. Bill Richardson proposes to "secure" the U.S. border with Mexico.

Now, thanks to a summary of Richardson's speech this morning at Georgetown University from the Governor's Office, we know.

"Securing the border must come first -- but we must understand that building a fence will not in any way accomplish that objective," said Richardson, according to the news release. "No fence ever built has stopped history and this one wouldn't either. The Congress should abandon the fence lock, stock and barrel. It flies in the face of America as a symbol of freedom."

Instead, the governor proposes, we should double the number of Border Patrol agents from its current strength of about 12,000 to 24,000; immediately place enough National Guard troops to cover the border in the short term; and take the best surveillance equipment now used by the military and share it with the Border Patrol.

Richardson also recommends a proposal put forth by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, that would grant "informant visas" and cash rewards to aliens who give law enforcement information on human traffickers and document forgers, according to the release.

Finally, border security involves setting up a "fraudulent documents task force" and engaging the Mexican government in face-to-face talks to help create jobs in the border region and to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants, the release said.

The three other main points Richardson made in this morning's speech include: increasing legal immigration; keeping employers from hiring illegals; and providing a path to legalization for most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States, according to the release.


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9:55am UPDATE: As expected, Gov. Bill Richardson, in what was billed a "major immigration address," this morning blasted plans for a 700-mile border fence, calling House Republican efforts to control illegal immigration a "monument to demagoguery" and urged the incoming Democratic Congress to enact reform legislation that offers illegal immigrants a path to legalization, according to the latest from The Associated Press .


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9:10am UPDATE: We don't often get feedback, so we're glad to pass on this e-mail, even though it's quite critical. It seems to us to illustrate just how touchy the subject of immigration continues to be:

"It is only called `the third rail' because of the attempts of some to take a situation of the human condition and turn it to something for political advantage. Your reference to `amnesty' in the context of a path to citizenship does nothing to clarify matters. It hides a difficult grasp of reality behind a word laced with emotion. You, Mr. Daniels, have become part of the problem: too many slogans, not enough thinking."


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Is New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson ready for the political prime time?

We'll see, as he tackles what has been called the new third rail of American politics -- immigration reform -- in what his people are calling a "major" address this morning at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.


Richardson, who was in Washington Wednesday for a meeting with officials from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, may have given us a sneak preview of his immigration views when he said the 700-mile fence approved by Congress in the fall (but without the funds to build it) just "gets in the way" of U.S.-Mexico relations, according to a story in this morning's Albuquerque Journal from The Associated Press .

According to the AP story, Richardson will ask Congress to roll back the fence, strengthen border security (huh?) and provide a "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants already in the United States (amnesty by any other name?).

The issue, which raged in Congress and on U.S. streets over the spring and summer, has gone into hibernation lately.

Will Richardson gain some credibility today for his still-mythical run for the presidency in 2008?

Or will he just get burned trying to touch that spark-sputtering third rail?

Guess we can see who he works for?

This is what Bill Richardson said in 1996 when he was in the U.S. House of Representatives:

"These are changing political times where our basic and programs are being attacked. Illegal and legal immigration unfairly attacked. We have to band together and that means Latinos in Florida, Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, South Americans - we have to network better - we have to be more politically minded - we have to put aside party and think of ourselves as Latinos, as Hispanics, more than we have in the past."

http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE ... marks.html

I had been very hopeful about Bill Richardson because of his diplomatic skills. Now I see that he lets ethnicity trump reason.
I will oppose him if he runs for the Presidency.
In fact, last night I filled out a poll aimed at core Democratic voters and I put down Wes Clark and Obama as my two choices for Pres. 1 year ago I would have put down Bill Richardson as my #1 choice. I already knew a few weeks ago he was going to come out with a statement like this, so he was off my list.

Just realized this site has compiled many articles of Bill Richardson:
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE ... marks.html