May 19, 2005

AVWatch: no California border patrols

Welcome to the first installment of Antonio Villaraigosa Watch, a feature that will highlight the thoughts of the new mayor of Los Angeles.

Today's feature is "LA mayor-elect breaks with governor on civilian border patrols":

Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he opposes civilian volunteers patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border to discourage illegal immigration, putting him at odds with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

AV: "We need our Department of Homeland Security, which patrols the border ... to address the issue of security... It doesn't make any sense for people to take the law into their own hands." [1]

...It's a three-hour drive from City Hall to the border, but illegal immigration was only a passing issue in the mayoral campaign. [2]

...Mayor James Hahn and Villaraigosa, a city councilman, each called on the federal government to enforce immigration laws. And both said they did not believe police officers should contact immigration officials when illegal immigrants are discovered during traffic stops or arrests.

[1] "take the law into their own hands"? Technically, none of the MMP volunteers did so. They called the Border Patrol when they spotted crossers. That phrase also has, of course, negative connotations.

[2] Part of that is because, of course, none of the candidates except Walter Moore made it an issue. And, Moore was shut out of the more important debates. Another of the main reasons it wasn't an issue is because the local media is too scared and/or corrupt to mention it.

Note that like almost all the other articles on Schwarzenegger's comments, this mention that Bush called the MMP volunteers "vigilantes."

Posted to Los_Angeles at May 19, 2005 10:46 PM

Comments