Gov. Jan Brewer plans to attend this year's meeting of the 10 border governors
PHOENIX - Gov. Jan Brewer plans to attend this year's meeting of
the 10 border governors - including the six from Mexico who snubbed
her last year after she signed SB 1070.
The event, set for the end of the month in Ensenada, Baja
California, would be the first time Brewer has sat down in the same
room as the governors of the six Mexican border states. She did not
attend the 2009 event in Monterrey because the state was involved
in budget negotiations.
Last year was Arizona's turn to host the annual event. But
Brewer pulled the plug when the Mexican governors refused to come
to the state after lawmakers approved, and the governor signed, SB
1070. That measure contains various provisions aimed at illegal
immigrants, including several designed to give police more power to
detain those not in the country legally.
Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas, in a letter to Brewer,
said SB 1070 is "discriminatory, racist and violates the
International Civil Rights agreement established in 1976."
Brewer lashed back at the governors and accused them of not
acting of their own accord. Instead, she said, they were "acting
under the direction, I believe, of President (Felipe) Calderón that
they ought not to participate."
When it became clear the Mexican governors would not come,
Brewer notified them, "I find no appropriate alternative to
cancellation."
Gubernatorial press aide Matthew Benson said he believes Brewer
will get a cordial reception despite last year's dust-up. Nor does
he believe that the Mexican governors are holding a grudge against
her for signing the bill.
He pointed out that Guillermo Padrés Elias, the governor of
Sonora, attended a conference earlier this year in Arizona hosted
by Brewer.
"There was quite a bit of Mexican media, and it was fine,"
Benson said. "She gets along very well with Gov. Padrés, and she's
not concerned about the reception that she'll receive."
Anyway, he said, Brewer's counterparts should understand her
position.
"As elected leaders of different states with different
constituencies, they're not going to agree on everything," Benson
said. And he said Brewer has an obligation to "do what she thinks
is best" for Arizona.
"But, generally speaking, they share many of the same goals for
their constituents," he continued. "That's what the border
governors conference is about: promoting policies that improve the
economies and security of the region."
Nor was Benson concerned that others, beyond the governors,
might give her a less-than-friendly reception.
"We get protesters all over the place," he said. "That's never
kept her in the office before."
Benson stressed that while Brewer plans to go to Ensenada, she
will cancel the trip if she is needed in Arizona.
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