[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
[November 4, 1994]
[Pages 1986-1987]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Interview With Luis Eschegoyan of KDTV, San Francisco
November 4, 1994

    The President. Hello, Luis, can you hear me?
    Mr. Eschegoyan. Yes, Mr. President. Good afternoon.
    The President. Good afternoon.

Immigration

    Mr. Eschegoyan. Thank you, Mr. President, for giving us the 
opportunity to talk to you. What is your impression of Proposition 187, 
included in the California ballot?
    The President. I'm opposed to it. I do believe that the Federal 
Government has an obligation to do more to try to help California deal 
with the problems of illegal immigration. And I have worked hard on 
that, along with Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer. We've almost 
doubled the border guards in southern California; we have increased our 
sending the illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes back 
home. We've given money to California for the very first time to deal 
with the costs of imprisonment.
    I've tried to get much more money for education and health care 
costs of immigration to California. But 187 operates primarily against 
children. It says, kick the children out of the health clinics. That 
could cause health problems for the general population. It says, kick 
the children out of the schools, which means teachers are turned into 
police officers. It means that the kids can be on the street causing 
problems for themselves and for others. We've already got too many 
children on the street.
    So I believe we have to do more. I'm working hard. I found a big 
immigration mess when I became President 21 months ago. But this is not 
the answer, in my opinion, and I hope the voters will turn out and vote 
and reject 187. It's a way of dividing our people, it's clearly 
unconstitutional, and it's looking for easy answers to a tough problem. 
After all, some of the people that are for 187 are part of the problem. 
When Governor Wilson was Senator Wilson, he responded to the powerful 
forces in California that wanted more illegal immigrants in California 
to do work. He sponsored legislation to make it more difficult to remove 
illegal immigrants from the workplace by going easier on the employers. 
Now he, all of a sudden, has turned 180 degrees on this issue. But this 
is a complicated issue without a simple solution. I'm committed to 
working with you to find a solution. I don't think 187 is the answer.

[[Page 1987]]

    I hope that our listeners, our viewers, will turn out and vote on 
Tuesday and vote against 187, and I hope they'll come to the Kaiser 
Center in Oakland tomorrow where I'm going to have a rally at 2 o'clock.
    Mr. Eschegoyan. Mr. President, if 187 is approved, do you think it 
will affect the NAFTA treaty with Mexico?
    The President. I don't know that it will affect NAFTA, but it will 
certainly affect our relations with Mexico. You know, in the long run, 
the best way to reduce illegal immigration is for more people in Mexico 
and these other countries to have good jobs in their own countries, to 
trade with us, to sell to us and buy from us, and live in stable 
societies.
    California has benefited more from NAFTA than any other State, with 
the possible exception of Texas. It has brought us increased numbers of 
new jobs and new opportunities. And as it raises incomes in Mexico, 
clearly, illegal immigration will slow because there will be more job 
opportunities at home. People like to stay with their families and where 
they grew up, if they can make a living.
    Mr. Eschegoyan. Thank you, Mr. President, to talk to us here at 
KDTV, Channel 14, in San Francisco.
    The President. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. by telephone from the Holiday 
Inn in Duluth, MN.