Schwarzenegger: “Close the Borders”
Charles Johnson
Wed Apr 20, 2005 at 10:23 am PDT • Views: 176
Yesterday California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the United States needs to close the southern border—but his office immediately “clarified,” i.e., backpedaled: Schwarzenegger talks tough on illegal immigration. (Hat tip: Rayra.)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the nation’s policy on preventing illegal immigration is too lax, telling a group of newspaper publishers the United States needs to “close the borders.”
“Close the borders in California and all across Mexico and in the United States,” Schwarzenegger said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Newspaper Association of America. “Because I think it is just unfair to have all those people coming across, have the borders open the way it is, and have this kind of lax situation.”
The Republican governor also suggested exploring several policy proposals aimed at addressing the immigration crisis, including President Bush’s proposed guest worker program and legislation sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to pave the way for undocumented workers already living in the United States to attain legal status.
“This is a very important debate. I think it’s necessary that we solve the problems rather than try to run the other way. It’s a hot issue,” Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger’s remarks were later clarified by his spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, who said the governor supports greater security along the nation’s borders but was not calling for the borders to be completely closed.
Frank says: