Immigration impasse
Panelists clash over
legislation, policies
and role of U.S. and
Mexican governments
BY JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ
Staff Writer
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called
Friday for a path to legalization that requires
undocumented immigrants to learn
English, pay back taxes and “embrace
American values.”
“What I believe you have to do is be sensible,
be practical,” he said. “Yes, have border
security, but what you don’t want to do
is stop right there.”
Speaking during a packed luncheon at
the convention center, Richardson sparred
with CNN anchor Lou Dobbs in an occasionally feisty debate about
the future of immigration in
the United States.
Dobbs, an outspoken opponent
of illegal immigration,
also clashed with the other
panelists, former Mexican
foreign minister Jorge Castañeda
and the Rev. David
Beckmann.
Dobbs said the lack of an
“honest relationship” between
the United States and Mexico
kept the countries from resolving
the immigration issue.
“The government of Mexico,
in its arrogance, has the
temerity to suggest how we
will treat its citizens in this
country?” Dobbs asked. “Migration
is a wonderful thing,
but this not about migration.
It is about illegal immigration.”
Castañeda said many immigrants
would rather cross the
border legally and predicted
that aggressive policing and
more walls would only heighten
Mexican immigration.
“You think Mexicans like
to cross the border through
the Sonora Desert?” he said
to applause. “They don’t want
to. Mexicans want to come to
the United States legally.”
Beckmann, president of the
faith-based group Bread for
the World, called for “progressive
policies” in health care
and education that benefit all
low-income workers.
“If we had those kinds of
policies in place, then lowwage
people would feel less
defensive about immigration,”
he said.
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