Goldwater promises to tighten border
By Howard Fischer
08.03.2005
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
azstarnet.com
SUN CITY WEST - Invoking the image of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the newest candidate for governor promised Tuesday to crack down on illegal immigration.
Republican Don Goldwater told an audience of about 50 people here the 9/11 attack "was a direct result of our unofficial open border policy."
Turning his attention closer to home, Goldwater made it clear he thinks Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, who was elected in 2002, bears responsibility for other effects of illegal immigration, ranging from increased crime and pollution of the desert to lost jobs for U.S. residents.
Goldwater, who made virtually identical speeches Tuesday in Phoenix and Tucson, specifically charged that Napolitano has undermined Proposition 200, which voters approved last fall by a 12-point margin.
"In an outrageous abuse of power, our governor has chosen to ignore the will of the people by refusing to enact all provisions of the new law," Goldwater, nephew of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, said in his prepared speech.
Asked for details later, he said provisions to require identification to cast a ballot have yet to be implemented. Napolitano has said that's because she's following the advice of Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard.
Goldwater noted the other half of Proposition 200 denies state and local benefits to people living here illegally. "My first full week in office," he said, "I will transmit policy directives to all state agencies for the training of state personnel on how to fully implement Proposition 200."
Napolitano spokeswoman Pati Urias said the governor did implement the law, in the areas that Goddard ruled the initiative applies to.
Goldwater also criticized Napolitano for vetoing legislation that would have permitted state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws. |
