QuePasa.com Meddling Mexicans miffed over effort to nix invader licenses ...Respecting this issue, Mexican Legislator Elsa de la Paz Esquivel stated, "it is absurd and reprehensible for the governor to support and promote such racist campaigns against immigrants, above all in California, where 25 per cent of the population is Latino and of that percentage, 75 per cent is of Mexican descent." [More on licenses for gate crashers]

Mexican miffed over effort to nix invader licenses

http://quepasa.com/content/?c=104&id=211964

Schwarzenegger, an immigrant who is against undocumented immigrants

Por Claudia Soto
QUEPASA.COM

Arnold Schwarzenegger. Quepasa.com
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., November 11, 2003 (quepasa.com)

The reason why thousands of Hispanics decided to vote for California governor-elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) remains a mystery, what is clear is that the Hollywood actor's policy to be put into effect on upcoming November 17 goes against undocumented immigrants, proof of which are the statements he has made lately to the media about the fact that he plans to cancel their drivers licenses.

Even during his campaign Schwarzenegger announced that he wanted to take away the aforementioned licenses, and, far from what people imagined, the Latin vote swayed in his favor; according to Guillermo Martínez, columnist for the New York daily "La Prensa", what is happening is that Hispanic residents in the United States are becoming more and more independent when the time comes to vote, it is not easy to predict their opinions any more, since presently Hispanics take the nation's economic situation very much into account, or at least that of the state they live in while others do it for the candidate who shows an ideology more akin to their own.

Thus, what has caused quite a stir lately is the news in some media informing that Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod plans to present a bill proposing the annulment of Law SB60 which grants drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants.

In support of this action is the conservative group "California Republican Assembly" who stated that the "Rescue California" organization (in charge of starting the proposal to recall Governor Gray Davis) has joined their campaign "Save our license" to collect signatures and back the repeal of the multi-mentioned law. In order for the proposed referendum to go through it is necessary to collect 375,000 signatures before December 7.

After having vetoed it on two occasions, Governor Gray Davis himself finally signed Law SB60 on September 5 past outside the Department of Motor Vehicles in Lincoln Heights, a place largely populated by Latino immigrants, said law will go into effect on January 1, 2004.

Another factor which points in the direction of the Austrian actor's policies being directed against undocumented immigrants is that recently a group of Mexican Legislators have considered declaring Arnold Schwarzenegger as "persona non-grata" for his position respecting immigration into the United States.

Respecting this issue, Mexican Legislator Elsa de la Paz Esquivel stated, "it is absurd and reprehensible for the governor to support and promote such racist campaigns against immigrants, above all in California, where 25 per cent of the population is Latino and of that percentage, 75 per cent is of Mexican descent."

However, not only Mexican legislators have voiced their disapproval on this "Terminator" policy, but also United States legislators in California and Arizona are fighting to reopen talks on regulating migratory movements toward the United States, as stated to the press by California legislator, Denise Moreno Ducheny.

"...there are members of Congress backed by farm workers' organizations and unions who have pushed to reopen discussions, mainly focused towards the agricultural sector," she went on to add that an immigration agreement must contemplate the entire labor market, above all in California.

Now it just remains to be seen how far the enforcement or annulment of Law SB60 goes and how much support Hispanics receive from their homelands as well as from the United States government, so that Schwarzenegger and other political groups do not get away with taking their drivers licenses away, which for many who defend immigrants' rights seems to be only be the beginning of a war against immigration in the United States.

QUEPASA.COM

Translator M. B. Durazo