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Latino Media, Politicians React to Governor's Praise of 'Minutemen'
News Report
By Elena Shore, Pacific News Service
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's on-air remarks about an armed,
volunteer group searching for illegal aliens along the Arizona border --
a project he called "terrific" -- have shocked Latino officials and
media workers. At least one editor, however, thinks the governor's words
have been taken out of context.
SAN FRANCISCO-Apr 29, 2005-Latino media, community activists and
elected officials are outraged over comments Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
made yesterday in support of the Minutemen, an armed group of citizens
patrolling the Arizona border in search of illegal immigrants.
In an interview on the "John and Ken Show," a conservative talk-radio
show on KFI in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger said the Minutemen "have done
a terrific job and they have cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants
by a huge percentage, so it just shows that it works when you go and
make an effort and when you work hard. I mean it is a doable thing and
it's just that our federal government is not doing their job."
The governor's comments came just one week after he apologized for
saying that the solution to California's immigration problem was to
"close the borders." He said he meant to say "secure the borders" and
jokingly attributed the mistake to his limited English ability.
The governor's radio interview, which followed an appearance on the
conservative television news channel Fox News the night before,
coincided with an announcement that his approval rating had dropped from
60 percent to 47 percent in the last three months.
"It's not a coincidence," says Pilar Marrero, political editor for the
Spanish-language daily La Opinión, that Schwarzenegger made the comments
on "the same day his numbers are going down. He's trying to distract
attention from the fact that he's losing steam.
"I heard it yesterday and it made me sick to my stomach," Marrero says.
"This isn't the Wild West," says Assemblymember Hector De La Torre.
"This isn't one of his action movies. The intent of that inflammatory
rhetoric is pointed right at us.
"Sir Edmund Burke said, 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,'"
De La Torre continued. "I think scapegoating and immigrant bashing is
the last refuge of the wounded politician."
In the same interview, Schwarzenegger criticized a billboard advertising
Spanish-language KRCA Channel 62. The billboard reads: "Your news, your
team. Los Angeles, CA" but "CA" is crossed out and replaced with
"Mexico." The governor, who called for the advertisement to be taken
down, said it "promotes illegal aliens to come in here, and it's the
last thing that we need."
Andrew Mars, corporate vice president of KRCA Channel 62, says his
station's billboard is a marketing campaign that people have reacted
against "out of fear."
"Our position with the billboard was to tell the 7 million Hispanics in
L.A. that we support them," Mars says. "What the governor didn't
understand is that the billboard was geared toward the people in L.A.,
not Mexico."
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The controversial billboard |
Schwarzenegger has emphasized his own experience as an immigrant in
speeches, including his address at the Republican National Convention.
"He uses that immigrant myth of his personal life when it suits his
purposes," says De La Torre.
With yesterday's comments, the governor has placed himself to the right
of President Bush on illegal immigration and the border. Bush has
criticized the Minutemen as a group of "vigilantes." When asked why Bush
used that term, Schwarzenegger paused. "I don't know," he said on the
radio program. "I have not had that conversation with him, but the next
time I see him I will have that conversation."
Not all Latino media workers were ready to condemn the governor's
comments, however.
"A lot of times we hear from our elected officials, who immediately
react with anger, but we don't get enough discussion about immigration,"
says Gloria Alvarez, managing editor of the Los Angeles-based bilingual
Eastern Group Publications (EGP). Alvarez says a lot of second- and
third-generation Hispanics are concerned about the large number of
illegal immigrants coming into the United States. They are afraid to
speak up, she says, because "to do so would put them in the position of
being called racist."
In the radio interview, Schwarzenegger was quick to point out that he
did not blame impoverished Mexicans who want to come to the United
States -- remarks missing from most newspapers' coverage of the
interview.
"I think a lot of people have used his words in ways that are not
necessarily beneficial to understanding and promoting the plight of
immigrants," Alvarez says.
In his remarks, Alvarez says, Schwarzenegger "wanted to make a point
that we need more border patrol," not to advocate vigilante groups. "I
don't assume that it was racist. It's almost like we have a standard
reaction now."
Alvarez says that the media and politicians "tend to present a 'Latino
perspective' without taking into account that not everyone thinks the
same way."
Enrique Morones, who heads the nonprofit Border Angels, says the
governor's comments come at a time when the Minutemen are planning to
expand from the Arizona border to California. Morones, who has appeared
on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News and hosts his own English and
Spanish-language radio shows, says his group sets up water stations in
the desert for illegal immigrants and is the "mirror opposite" of the
Minutemen.
"We are very worried that the Minutemen are coming out here," he says.
"We know they're coming."
The Minutemen are expected to begin patrolling the California border in
June, according to Alvarez.
PNS contributor Elena Shore is a writer and editor
for New California Media, a nationwide association of over 700 ethnic
media organizations representing the development of a more inclusive
journalism. |
