Republicans say illegal immigration from Mexico will be Governor Napolitano’s Achilles’ heel in her bid for reelection.

“The governor must stop pandering to the far left on this issue,” Keith DeGreen, who says he plans to be a Republican candidate for governor in 2006, told Arizona Capitol Times in an e-mail outlining suggestions he says state government should consider to stop illegal immigration.

“By sleeping through the greatest crisis of our time — presumably for fear of being called a racist — the governor is on the wrong side of history and is breaching her duty to defend the lawful residents of Arizona.”

Of the more than two-dozen immigration related bills introduced in the Legislature this year, Ms. Napolitano, so far, has vetoed three and signed two. As of May 12, four more immigration bills were awaiting her decision, and one was pending final legislative action.

Republican public relations consultant Jason Rose and lobbyist Stan Barnes told The Phoenix Business Journal that Ms. Napolitano is weak and vulnerable on immigration issues, but Farrell Quinlan, Arizona Chamber of Commerce vice president, says the chamber does not have a problem with her on border matters.

Mr. DeGreen, on the other hand, says the governor has not attended to immigration issues.

“Her support is a mile wide and an inch deep,” he said in a May 9 interview.

Mr. DeGreen’s suggestions for solutions to illegal border crossings from Mexico include citizen action and taxes to pay for more law enforcement.

“Clarify and protect the right of all citizens to use non-lethal means when appropriate, to help arrest people who are breaking our laws,” he wrote. “As the Minuteman project amply demonstrated, these well-trained volunteer citizens can act as the eyes and ears of [federal immigration officers] and state authorities.”

Mr. DeGreen, who was defeated in a 1988 attempt to unseat then-U.S. Sen. Dennis Deconcini, says the state should consider a package of laws “to clearly and unequivocally make the act of illegally residing in Arizona and/or transacting business in Arizona while an illegal resident, a continuing state crime…”

He also calls for “serious sanctions” on employers who hire illegal immigrants and says he supports a federal guest worker program.

“But whether a worker program is in place or not, employers who violate the law should be punished. Period,” Mr. DeGreen said.

On May 11, a conference committee stripped employer sanctions from two bills (H2030 and H2592) that would deny educational and other benefits to illegal aliens and prohibit local governments from funding day labor centers that provide employment for undocumented workers. Both bills passed the Senate on 16-12 votes and were expected to go to the governor May 12.

Sen. Linda Aguirre, D-16, urged the Senate to reject the bills and wait for federal action on immigration matters.

But Sen. Dean Martin, R-6, responded, “The citizens of Arizona are tired of waiting for Congress to do something.”

Mr. DeGreen also proposes a tax to fund increased enforcement of immigration laws. He calls for an 8 per cent “sales tax” that would be collected by banks that wire money from illegal residents in the United States to foreign countries. He said studies show that about $17 billion is wired annually by illegal immigrants, primarily to Mexico.

“If Arizona accounts for just 10 per cent of that amount, this tax would raise about $72 million per year,” Mr. DeGreen said.

He said Ms. Napolitano should reserve the right to use the National Guard to transport illegal immigrants who have been arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Governor Defends Vetoes

In her weekly meeting with reporters May 11, Ms. Napolitano defended her vetoes of bills requiring federal, state or tribal identification to receive government services (S1511); tightening up ID requirements for prospective voters (S1118); contracting for construction of a private prison in Mexico to incarcerate illegal immigrants who commit crimes in Arizona (H2709), and making English Arizona’s official language (S1166).

“These bills . . . will not have one whit of an effect on illegal immigration in this state,” she said. “You have to look at what is finally going to stem the tide of all of this illegal entry into Arizona. And I’ve got to tell you, I don’t think they’re coming over here to vote.

“People have a lot of ideas on immigration,” Ms. Napolitano said. “My goal is to look at what needs to be done systematically, primarily by the federal government, but we need to look at some state things as well to start stemming the tide. Arizona is paying an undue price.”

She said she has asked the state Department of Transportation to study the bill recently passed by Congress that will create a national driver’s license ID card and that additional state funding might be required to enforce it.

“We have fairly rigorous standards for issuing a driver’s license,” she added.

Ms. Napolitano opposed Prop. 200, the anti-illegal immigration measure approved by voters last November. Attorney General Terry Goddard concluded it applies only to welfare benefits, which spurred the numerous bills this session to expand the scope of the initiative.

Mr. DeGreen, a financial planner and attorney, says Ms. Napolitano is only claiming to be for school choice, and if he’s elected, he will create “the first public-private partnership for educational excellence.”

“You cannot close the school house door to the free market,” he said.

Mr. DeGreen said Republican leadership got what it could from the governor in the budget agreement reached on May 5, which eliminated school vouchers for private education as part of a full-day kindergarten bill.

“I accept they got what they could from this governor,” he said. “It illustrates what we could have accomplished with the right governor.”

On taxes, Mr. DeGreen says he would cap the property tax based on the Consumer Price Index, “so low-income families don’t get creamed by real estate prices,” and he would propose other tax breaks.

He said he will run as a publicly funded candidate. June 14, 2006 is the deadline to file nominating petitions to run for the primary. —