Howard Berman: “The vast majority of leadership and individual chiefs of police of jurisdictions most affected by this provision think…”

“The vast majority of leadership and individual chiefs of police of jurisdictions most affected by this provision think it would be a terrible idea. Now I am trying to understand what the motivation is for someone like Governor Wilson to come to Washington, hold a press conference, urge passage of a bill with a provision that he knows will draw a veto. There is two cynical, but perhaps accurate, interpretations of the motivations for this action. One is again to have an issue rather than a law. All the time and effort spent by the chairman of the subcommittee and Senator Simpson to try and improve our ability to deal with illegal immigration will be a waste of time if this bill is vetoed. Those people want an issue. The other even more cynical interpretation of the motivations of the Governor is what happened on both the House and Senate floors. Actually the Senate did not even take it up. The large growers in California hate anything which makes efforts to enforce our laws against illegal immigration tougher because they have historically relied on bringing in undocumented workers to pick the crops.”