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First, secure our bordersBy Lou Dobbs Editor's note: Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited to appear on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to discuss immigration, but he declined. (CNN) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today called our current immigration system "bad policy" in a Wall Street Journal editorial. As the leader of the largest border state on the frontline of the illegal immigration crisis, Gov. Schwarzenegger today for the first time partially adopted the position I've advocated for the past two years: First, secure our borders, then deal with the illegal immigration crisis. I've repeatedly called for immigration overhaul that's humane, reasonable and effective. I have said straightforwardly that we cannot reform immigration law and policy if we cannot control immigration. And we cannot control immigration if we cannot secure our borders and our ports. Shamelessly pandering to the readership of the Wall Street Journal editorial pages, Gov. Schwarzenegger invokes Ronald Reagan's name to declare that we can have immigration policies that both strengthen our borders and welcomes immigrants. No, Governor, we can't. National security requires that we control our borders and our ports. So does a rational, humane and effective immigration policy. Both flow from secure borders. I repeat, Governor, until we first secure our borders, you can do nothing to resolve our illegal immigration crisis. Middle-class working men and women in your state and around the nation are paying the price, while illegal employers are enjoying the benefits and profits of illegal immigration. You know full well your public schools in California are overcrowded, principally because of illegal immigration. Illegal immigration has forced the closing of emergency rooms, clinics and hospitals in your state. Governor, were you talking about me when you said, "How ironic it is to hear some of the same voices who complain about the outsourcing of jobs also complain about the use of immigrant workers here in America"? If so, be a man, Governor, use names. You know my name. And don't call illegal aliens "immigrants." You insult legal immigrants when you do. You know as well as I do that I've never complained about "immigrant workers" in this country, only illegal aliens and illegal employers who break the law. Just so we're clear about the connection between illegal labor in this country and the outsourcing of jobs to cheap foreign labor markets: Both are part of corporate America's drive to lower wages in this country for middle-class working men and women. And when you talk about "the use of immigrant workers here in America," you sound more like one of those corporatists that dominate our political system right now than a leader of all of the people in your state. You know, including the tens of millions of legal citizens that happen to live in California. 
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