Is the Terminator Wrong on Illegal Immigration?

California Governor Arnold Swarzenegger has stepped up to the plate on illegal immigration.

Although reticent at first, the Governator has decided to confront the issue.

Now, comes the criticism and the amen chorus of Latino pro-illegal aliens:

First, there is Michael Kinsley’s Los Angeles Times (free registration required):

Easy Target, Cheap Politics

His approval rating sinking and his agenda stalled, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently has decided it’s time to regroup. Unfortunately, instead of reverting to the bipartisan governor who just last year crafted compromises over cigars, he’s keeping the tough-guy act. He has found a new group to rail against that he knows will prove less popular than teachers and nurses. Enemy numero uno is now illegal immigrants.

The governor of California has every right to be frustrated with this nation’s dysfunctional approach to immigration. The United States relies heavily on undocumented workers while paying lip service to the idea that they are not welcome, a surreal contradiction that imposes any number of burdens on local and state governments. Schwarzenegger, in our view, has taken the wrong position on one of the classic dilemmas facing state governments — whether to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented workers.

But the governor’s recent utterances on immigration cannot be described as honest policy expressions — they seem more like a desperate ploy to capitalize on the prejudices and fears of others. Schwarzenegger’s talk-radio embrace last week of the “Minutemen” in Arizona was truly bizarre. Saying that the armed volunteers who have been patrolling the border with Mexico for the last month have done a “terrific job,” he all but invited them to come to California. What’s next: Will the governor encourage vigilantes to combat street crime?

Schwarzenegger also asked a TV station to remove a billboard reading “Los Angeles, Mexico” on the grounds it encourages illegal immigration. We know that he has a better sense of humor than that, and he knows better than to start censoring advertising. And as someone born and raised in the shadow of the Third Reich, he should also know better than to be fanning this anti-foreigner frenzy.

Schwarzenegger, who earlier in the month carelessly said that the nation should “close the borders,” is the governor of a state in which one out of every four residents is foreign born. Yes, there is a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, but stimulate enough backlash and that distinction disappears.

Schwarzenegger, the supposed moderate Republican, is staking a position to the right of President Bush, who at least says the right things about overhauling immigration policy — regain control of the borders, devise a guest worker program — even if he never acts. Forget cigars. Schwarzenegger, incredibly, even criticized humanitarian groups who put water in desert crossing areas, saying it “invites people to come in here illegally.” No, governor. They will come anyway. But perhaps one less person will die.

The federal government needs to implement some rational immigration policies, and the governor of California should be prodding it to do so. The kindest explanation for the Minuteman movement is that its frustrated members can’t find any other way to get Washington’s attention. But California’s governor is a Republican star. He can. Yet Schwarzenegger said he’s never raised the issue with Bush. Maybe that’s because the governor, until his recent fall in the opinion polls, didn’t think it was that much of a crisis.

Then there is the Sacramento Bee (free registration required):

Editorial: In search of a script
Kicking around immigrants is a losing role for Schwarzenegger

Back when he was an actor and not yet a famous politician, Ronald Reagan once commented that “a star doesn’t slip. He’s ruined by bad stories and worse casting.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is watching his star slip, and he has only himself to blame. His scripts are bad, and he is surrounding himself with a B-list cast. This includes the xenophobes who tune into the “John and Ken Show” on KFI Radio in Los Angeles.

While being interviewed on that talk show Thursday, Schwarzenegger went out of his way to endorse the Minutemen brigades that are now patrolling the Mexican border. “I think they’ve done a terrific job,” the governor said. “They’ve cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants a huge percentage.”

On that same show, the governor endorsed a campaign to take down billboards in Los Angeles that promote a Spanish-language radio station. The billboards show a pair of newscasters with the words, “Los Angeles, CA” behind them. On the billboard, the CA is crossed out and replaced with “Mexico.”

Regardless of how one feels about illegal immigration, it is fantasy to think that tougher federal patrols (and fewer billboards in Los Angeles) will have much impact on this issue. If Schwarzenegger were serious about enforcing immigration laws, he’d help the feds identify and prosecute California businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers for cheap wages.

Of course, if he did that, he’d have to go after the home-building industry, corporate farms and other businesses that have contributed heavily to his campaigns. He’d have to confront his Brentwood neighbors and the housekeepers, gardeners and pedicurists they hire.

No, Schwarzenegger isn’t serious about illegal immigration. He’s just following in the small-boned footsteps of his mentor, former Gov. Pete Wilson, who played to anti-immigrant sentiments when he was in political trouble.

Although Wilson got some mileage from Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that denied benefits to illegal immigrants, the Republican Party in California has paid a heavy price. So will Schwarzenegger if he keeps pandering to xenophobes, while tripping over his tongue.

Like most Californians, we want Schwarzenegger to be an effective governor. Like most Californians, we applaud him when he earnestly tries to fix problems such as runaway pension benefits, multibillion-dollar budget deficits and gerrymandered legislative districts.

Sadly, he seems to be shying away from, and possibly abandoning, that agenda. In its place, he is sticking to a bad script in hopes of shoring up his base among people who want to blame all of California’s problems on Mexicans sneaking across the border.

Illegal immigrants are easy targets for politicians devoid of courage. If Schwarzenegger continues casting himself in such a role rather than fighting for the changes California needs, his star is sure to slip farther.

And lastly (at least for this post) is Dan Weintraub’s blog and column:

Pro Latino, against illegal immigration

This study from Pew Charitable Trust shows why Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is right to focus on illegal immigration. But it also shows why he’s putting his emphasis in the wrong place. Illegal immigration does the most harm to those at the bottom of the economic ladder, especially other recent immigrants. The Pew study shows that Hispanics, despite robust employment growth, were the only ethnic group to see a real decline in wages each of the past two years. Pew attributes that decline to competition for entry-level jobs among new immigrants, who bid down the wages. If not for illegal immigration, in other words, Latinos working as bus boys, waiters, maids, landscapers and construction laborers would be earning higher wages. It’s possible, in fact consistent, to be pro-Latino and against illegal immigration. But you don’t send that message by throwing in with the Minutemen.

Here is my column on the governor’s recent rant.

And here is an LA Times story about the emerging immigration deal in Congress.

Xrlq may have said it best here:

…If you can judge a man by his enemies…..

True to form, Professor Bainbridge accuses the Governator of “pulling a Pete” by opposing illegal activity. Perhaps he forgot that Pete himself got handily re-elected that way. Banbridge also links approvingly to President Bush’s slander of the Minutemen as “vigilantes,” and calls everyone who supports secure borders a nativist (!), a racist and a nut. Yawn. But a courtesey heh for the unintentional irony in using a term like “nativist” to describe an individual who isn’t even a native.

If the Terminator sticks to this issue he will ride the wave of popularity for an easy re-election victory in 2006.

The sparks will begin to fly just iin time for the 2006 election.