Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's off-the-cuff comments in recently released audio recordings about illegal immigration and the unwillingness of Mexicans to assimilate into American society have drawn angry responses this week from Latino community and political leaders.
"I made an effort," the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger told aides last April in conversations that touched on assimilation. "But the Mexicans don't make that effort."
The governor also used an expletive to disparage the 1986 federal law that granted asylum to more than 2 million illegal immigrants.
"His comments were highly offensive and outrageous," said Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). "It's just mind-blowing that he continues to put his foot in his mouth."
If Spanish-language newspapers and radio are any guide, others were angered as well. The headline on one La Opinion piece this week: "Governor attacks Mexicans."
Even a former campaign aide weighed in. "Those comments are disturbing to many of us," said Arnoldo Torres, who worked for the governor during last year's reelection campaign and is a former political advisor to the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The controversy is the latest flap for the governor involving casual conversations that were not intended to become public.
The recordings were made by a speechwriter and temporarily stored on the governor's website.
A six-minute excerpt was first made public by The Times in September. The remaining 3 1/2 hours of recordings were recently obtained by The Times.
In the recordings released last fall, Schwarzenegger referred to a Latina lawmaker as "hot," casually saying that her fiery personality was the result of mixing "black blood" with "Latino blood."
The more recently released recordings provide the governor's most candid statements yet on illegal immigration.
The conversations were brainstorming sessions designed to help the governor talk out ideas, his communications director, Adam Mendelsohn, said Thursday.
"I think everyone in this state struggles with how to manage an issue as large as the immigration issue," Mendelsohn said. "The governor is working through that issue as anyone else, and he is trying to come up with a responsible position."
Mendelsohn said the recordings, however, fail "to reflect his deep respect for the Mexican culture.... He has a strong belief and understanding of what immigrants have contributed to this state in terms of economic growth."
