The Terminator talks about immigration




He's probably the most powerful immigrant in politics. In fact, some say if it wasn't for the minor constitutional detail that only U.S.-born citizens can run for president, he would make a viable candidate for the White House.

We're talking about the Arnold, the Terminator, the governor of California. And now Gov. Schwarzenegger is weighing in on immigration. In Ruben Navarrette's column in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the former blockbuster actor had some interesting -- and personal thoughts about the issue. He talked about some of the hostility he encountered when he came to America decades ago.

"I felt a little bit of prejudice, people saying 'What's the Nazi doing here?' and stuff like that. They imitated my accent, and made jokes about it, and they came into the gym sometimes and said, 'Heil Hitler.'"

After addressing policy issues surrounding immigration, Navarrette asked the governor "whether there wouldn't still be some people upset that these immigrants were here -- legally or not -- because of the impact on the culture."

"I would say that there would always be a problem," he said. "There is always a certain percentage of people who just don't like foreigners. "But that's OK. That's not the problem that we have right now. The problem we have right now is that, every single day, you hear about illegals, people coming in here illegally."

That creates hostility, he said. Yet, unlike the nativists, Schwarzenegger doesn't blame the immigrants themselves. Contrary to the popular myth that illegal immigrants cut in line, the governor realizes that there is no line -- not if you're poor and from a country where the number of people who want to come to the U.S. far exceeds the visa allotment.

"Those people didn't choose (to come illegally)," he said. "It's the only way they can get in here. ... It's not like you can stand in line and wait a few days and then you can get in. There's no way. There is a system that has been created on purpose to look the other way and to bring them in because everyone knows that we cannot function without them."

Immigration Chronicles: The Terminator talks about immigration