Top recall hopefuls quiet on illegals

Many of those running in the California recall election are pushing for curbs on illegal immigration — almost everyone, it seems, except the major candidates.

From activist Joe Guzzardi, whose campaign goal is to make immigration an issue, to pornographer Larry Flynt, who has called for an amnesty before clamping down on the state’s border, illegal immigration is a stated issue for many of the 135 candidates vying to become the next governor if voters recall incumbent Democratic Gov. Gray Davis on Oct. 7.

There’s Douglas Anderson, a Republican mortgage broker, who told the Los Angeles Times the state needs to “control our borders, and stop illegal immigration.” And Brooke Adams, a 25-year-old account executive, running as an independent, who says on her Web site the state “cannot continue to provide costly services to illegal immigrants.”

Several other candidates also are touting their stance on immigration, including Leonard Padilla, a Sacramento bounty hunter who told the Associated Press he learned from his own time in jail the impact of illegal immigration and the need to fight it.

But from Mr. Davis, to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger to independent Arianna Huffington, the candidates who have grabbed most of the attention are largely silent on illegal immigration.

“My impression of it is Schwarzenegger, [Lt. Gov. Cruz] Bustamante, Davis himself, [Republican Tom] McClintock, [Republican Peter] Ueberroth, Huffington — none of them have mentioned a single thing about it unless they were under duress,” said Mr. Guzzardi, a Democrat and schoolteacher, who writes a column on immigration control on the Internet.

“What we see playing out in California is this fundamental divide between the American people and our leaders,” said Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies.

The center released a report last year that showed a large disconnect between public officials, community leaders and other elite on the one hand, and average voters on the other hand, on the importance of addressing immigration.

The analysis found 70 percent of the general public believed controlling illegal immigration should be an important goal of foreign policy, but only 22 percent of “elites” did.

Mr. Camarota said that’s playing out among the candidates in California — some are long-time politicians or public figures who run in the “elite” circles, while the rank-and-file candidates are more in touch with average voters’ concerns.

But Ricardo Ramirez, assistant professor of political science at the University of Southern California, said the major candidates are paying the issue no heed because voters aren’t clamoring for it.

“The mainstream candidates aren’t focusing on immigration, and a big reason is the public isn’t focusing on that,” he said.

A Los Angeles Times poll from earlier this week suggested immigration just isn’t moving many voters in California.

In particular, the poll found that about half of those surveyed said a candidate’s position on Proposition 187, the 1994 initiative intended to cut state benefits to illegal immigrants, didn’t matter.

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