Thread: N.M. gov urges Bush to help illegal immigrant

N.M. gov urges Bush to help illegal immigrant who took sanctuary in church



By BARRY MASSEY
Associated Press Writer

November 17, 2006, 4:48 PM CST

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Gov. Bill Richardson has asked President Bush to come to the aid of an illegal immigrant who has taken refuge in a Chicago church to avoid being deported to Mexico.

Richardson has followed Elvira Arellano's case in news reports and considers her family's plight a "perfect example" of why immigration reform is necessary, his spokesman Jon Goldstein said.

Arellano, a former cleaning woman at O'Hare International Airport convicted of using a false Social Security number, has been in the church since August. Her 7-year-old, U.S.-born son, Saul, this week traveled to Mexico and successfully lobbied its Chamber of Deputies to call for the U.S. Congress to suspend the deportation of illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens.
"The Arellano case puts a spotlight on the danger of not acting on a comprehensive immigration plan," Richardson wrote Wednesday in a letter to Bush that was released by the governor's office Thursday. "Inaction puts our most vulnerable citizens -- the estimated three million American citizen children of illegal immigrants -- at risk." The governor, whose mother is from Mexico, said deporting Arellano will create a "terrible choice" for the family -- forcing the boy to leave his mother if he stays in the U.S. or "forfeit his right to grow up an American."
The White House referred questions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency "is required to enforce immigration laws fairly, regardless of a person's ability to generate publicity," said Gail Montenegro, an ICE spokeswoman in Chicago.

She said the agency considers Arellano one of "nearly 600,000 immigration fugitives residing in the United States."

"This country's immigration system, as generous as it is, is not to be exploited," she said.

Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, won re-election this month to a second four-year term. He is considering a bid for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president and says he will make a decision in January.

Immigration hasn't become as contentious a political issue in New Mexico as it has in some other states. The state allows illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, and children of illegal immigrants qualify for in-state college tuition.

Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press

Immigration hasn't become as contentious a political issue in New Mexico as it has in some other states. The state allows illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, and children of illegal immigrants qualify for in-state college tuition.

For all practical purposes it would appear as if New Mexico has become part of Mexico. If that in fact is the case, Gov. Richardson has zero say in how the United States deals with its illegal alien population!

What do you expect from one of the mexicans himself.

Now this is one incapable governor. What does he think the message is which he is sending to Mexico and to many other countries as well? The message is: "Sure, come to the United States ILLEGALLY, break more laws by using the identification of American citizens, then hide in a church and I, Bill Richardson will stand up for you.....because you are Mexican and so am I and that overrides everything for me, including my responsibility to the American Citizens of New Mexico, who I am suppose to represent."

Go back to the country which holds your loyalty. Move over and let New Mexico have an American governor, since believe it or not....New Mexico is a part of the United States, Senor Richardson.

This guy wouldn't stand a chance running for president. What a JERK.

You know there is a lot of need for new leadership in Mexico. Why don't some of these people go back to the countries they truly love and work in politics there?? Nobody has them chained down to America. Have some courage, put your money where your mouths are and go back and help them without stealing the rights and the needs of the people of the United States.

Cowards. Cheats. They are disasters to the well-being and safety of the citizens of the United States and to our country's sovereignty.

What do you expect from a carpetbagging Bostonian transplant who presided over some of the most serious leaks of nuclear technology and other serious security breaches in the history of the Dept. of Energy? For that gross incompetence as Sec. of Energy, the idiot was rewarded with the governorship of his adopted state.

Originally Posted by CrocketsGhost

What do you expect...

...from La Raza's puppet?

http://www.nclr.org/content/viewpoints/ ... 1/?print=1

Selected Quotes from Governor Bill Richardson s Speech at the 2006 NCLR Annual Conference on Tuesday, July 11

I have long advocated that Latinos are too often boxed into
stereotypes. Yes, we care about immigration and civil rights. But
the 40 million Latinos in this country also care about making
schools work, access to quality health care and the American
dream of home ownership.

The National Council of La Raza understands this. The hundreds
of organizations under the La Raza umbrella focus on education,
health and economic empowerment, in addition to your historic
ties to civil rights and immigration.

Despite the distraction from these important issues, that doesn t
mean we shouldn t be having this debate about immigration. I
believe we have avoided this necessary dialogue for far too long.
And we are paying the price for that neglect.

Evidently Govenor Richardson is not a serious candidate for President in 2008 or else he wouldn't be aligning himself with the amnesty gang.

I don't think an amnesty candidate will get many conservative votes.

Originally Posted by ChromeDome

Evidently Govenor Richardson is not a serious candidate for President in 2008 or else he wouldn't be aligning himself with the amnesty gang.

I don't think an amnesty candidate will get many conservative votes.

I think the Democrats are under the false assumption that they killed off the conservatives when they killed off the Republican party. A Richardson bid for President should help open up support for a viable third-party conservative movement.

Originally Posted by millere

Originally Posted by ChromeDome

Evidently Govenor Richardson is not a serious candidate for President in 2008 or else he wouldn't be aligning himself with the amnesty gang.

I don't think an amnesty candidate will get many conservative votes.

I think the Democrats are under the false assumption that they killed off the conservatives when they killed off the Republican party. A Richardson bid for President should help open up support for a viable third-party conservative movement.

Paraphrasing the great Mark Twain, the rumors of the death of the Republican Party have been greatly exaggerated, as the Democrats will soon learn if they raise taxes, vote for amnesty, or carry out any of a number of other mandates they imagine that their "protest vote" victory created.

Richardson is hispanic. Nearlly all hispanics stick up for the raza, right or wrong.