LOS ANGELES – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday called himself a "champion of immigrants," a day after crediting citizen patrols with curbing illegal crossings along the Arizona-Mexican border.
Speaking with reporters at his downtown office, the Republican governor appeared to temper his enthusiasm for the Minuteman Project – the volunteer patrols he praised a day earlier for doing a "terrific job" discouraging illegal immigration.
Asked if he planned to visit the Minuteman monitors, who have been denounced by President Bush as vigilantes, Schwarzenegger said, "I have no plan. I think the most important thing to note is I am a champion of immigrants. I promote immigration. I am an immigrant myself. I think it's extremely important that we do it in a legal way."
The governor said the federal government is "irresponsible" because it has not acted to "secure the borders."
"When the government ... doesn't do its job, then the private citizens go out. It is like a neighborhood patrol."
"The federal government has to take on this issue and take it seriously. It cannot kind of tiptoe around it they way they have been doing," he said.
The so-called Minuteman Project involves hundreds of volunteers, some armed, who have been patrolling the Arizona border since April 1 to document and report incidents of illegal crossing.
In an interview Thursday on KFI-AM's "The John & Ken Show," the governor said the patrols "have done a terrific job, and look, they've cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants by a huge percentage.
Schwarzenegger outraged some Mexican-American groups last week by calling for a closed border, a statement he later retracted and blamed on his choppy English.
He was the target of new criticism from even the government of Mexico for endorsing the volunteer border patrols.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement that "these types of unfortunate pronouncements are not the way to achieve a better understanding between our country and California."
"These manifestations prejudice historical economic, social and cultural ties between Mexico and California," the department said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of California said in a statement, "Encouraging this kind of dangerous activity that invites harassment and intimidation is irresponsible."
State Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres noted that Schwarzenegger twice made statements and then moved to temper their impact.
"Where do Arnold's true feelings lie on this matter?" he asked.
Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association, called Schwarzenegger's comments "nothing short of base racism."
"Those of immigrant stock should have no illusions about what his real sentiments and feelings are toward them," he said.
Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson, argued that, "It's not racist to ask the federal government to enforce its laws."
Thompson said the governor was not opposed to Minutemen volunteers coming to California, but noted that they would not be allowed to carry weapons under state law.
Chris Simcox, a Minuteman organizer, said he welcomed Schwarzenegger's support. "It's gratifying to see that elected officials are responding to the will of the people," he said.
A report released in March by the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that about 11 million illegal immigrants now live in the United States, half of whom come from Mexico. California is home to 2.4 million, far more than any other state.
During Thursday's radio interview, Schwarzenegger also called on Spanish-language television station KRCA-TV to take down billboards that identify its market as "Los Angeles, Mexico."
"It promotes illegal aliens to come in here," the governor said.
Lenard Liberman, executive vice president of the Burbank company that owns KRCA, said Friday that the message of the ads was that, "We're the destination if you want news and information about Los Angeles and Mexico."
"I'm against illegal immigration just like anybody else, but Hispanics living in Los Angeles ... have a right to a TV station that advertises itself to that market. I don't understand how that promotes illegal immigration."
Liberman said Schwarzenegger focused on illegal immigration in an effort to bolster conservative support.
"He's had a series of setbacks politically, and Hispanics are an easy target that gets people focused and riled up," he said.
