Arnold's border-closing rhetoric: A sop to the right?


Momentarily forgetting that the material economy of California runs largely on the backs of undocumented laborers, documented immigrant Arnold Schwarzenegger advocates closing our border against illegal workers.

'Close the borders,' Schwarzenegger says
In talk to publishers, he urges increased federal enforcement
(Chron) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged federal officials to beef up enforcement and secure the state's borders against illegal immigrants, saying Tuesday they must clean up a "lax situation" instead of "trying to run the other way."

"Close the borders. Close the borders in California, and all across Mexico and the United States," Schwarzenegger told hundreds of newspaper publishers at Newspaper Association of American convention the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

"Because I think it is just unfair to have all of those people coming across, and to have the borders open the way it is," the California governor said. "We in California have to still finish the border. That is the key thing -- to have borders and to keep the law, enforce the law."


At least he recognizes that immigration control is a federal issue, a point on which he seemed tenuous when he moved to prevent illegal immigrants from acquiring drivers' licenses.

Other sources have already covered this story, and because I've been scooped I shall now give credit where credit is due before I attempt to add a fresh point to the discussion:

• I agree with Jerome Thompson of Dropping the Gloves that it seems especially slimy that someone who came to the US with minimal English and one marketable skill should try to score points by whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment.

• I agree with "Chris in Paris" at AMERICAblog that the practical consequences of the Governor's recommendation would be the economic ruination of the state of California.

Now I want to add this rhetorical question, on the politics of the Governor's statement:

Given that Arnold's approval is slipping among Democrats and moderates, could this be an effort to shore up support on the right, where immigrant-bashing is as American as warmongering and giving up (other people's) civil liberties in order to feel safer at night? In other words, is this a ham-handed attempt at dog-whistle politics in which the frequency of the signal has veered sloppily into the human-audible range?

Posted: Wed - April 20, 2005 at 11:13 AM   | Category:     |   |   | |


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