promote border economic development

Message from Mayor Schmidt

At the present time there is a movement along the border to establish an alliance group to promote economic development. To date, there has been three meetings involving Mayors from Southeastern Arizona and Sonoran Mexico, as well as representatives from Cochise County, Tucson, the Mexican Consulate of Douglas, the American Consulate of Nogales, and the Deputy Secretary of Employment and Productivity for the Labor Department of Mexico.
The apparent founders of this movement have come from the Douglas area in Mayor Danny Ortega of Douglas and Mayor Irma Villalobos de Teran of Agua Prieta. Due to the economic downturn along the border, collaboration was formed to try and increase development along the Northeastern Sonoran Desert Border. The first meeting was held in Agua Prieta and the two following meetings were held in Douglas. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in Cannea Mexico.
The second meeting on December 7th was the first one that I attended with Councilman Villa and the topics were pretty wide spread involving everything from Agriculture, Mining, Geography, Industrial Parks, Railroads, and a new Port of Entry in Douglas. The majority of the discussions were carried out by the Mayors, and the Secretary of Employment from Mexico in which they stated their desire to increase relationships in the region along the Border.
Tourism became one of the major topics at this meeting, which sparked the interest of both Adriana Badal, the Mayor of Bisbee and myself. On the Mexican side their interest in tourism seems to be in the area of medical along the border and rural further south. Adriana Badal pretty much took over the meeting being that she is fluent in Spanish and her family is originally from Nacozari Mexico. There was a press conference afterward and I was asked what I thought of the meeting. I stated that I did not know what to expect before the meeting, but thought that the results were constructive, and would attend the next meeting, which was scheduled for January 25th in Bisbee.
On December 27th in Bisbee we had a meeting with Mayor Ortega of Douglas, Mayor Mueller of Sierra Vista, Mayor Badal of Bisbee, Councilman Villa of Tombstone, and myself. The purpose of this meeting was to try and narrow down the topics of discussion for the next meeting on January 25th. The topics discussed were characteristic of Bisbee, Tombstone, Sierra Vista, and Douglas that could be focused on to attract tourist and increase business and economic opportunities in the region. There were four points that came out of this meeting.
1. That Mayor Ortega would present a copy of the City of Douglas� marketing and border safety brochure and suggest that the border mayors� create a brochure similar for the use in other border communities.
2. Bisbee, Sierra Vista, Tombstone, and Douglas should consider promoting historical tourism in Tombstone and Bisbee, sporting events in Douglas, and retail amenities in Sierra Vista.
3. The border communities in the regional development project should promote resources on both sides of the border such as medical facilities in Mexico, and retail opportunities in Cochise County.
4. The group investigate �Vamos a Cochise County� gift card that would be available to employees in Sonora. Money could be added to the gift card through payroll deductions and be used in retail establishment in Cochise County.
The meeting was constructive, and the topic of tourism kept surfacing throughout the meeting. I decide that at the next meeting which the location was changed from Bisbee to Douglas I would invite Susan Wallace Director of the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce to participate.
At the meeting on January 25th in Douglas topics were narrowed down into area of importance for which to concentrate development. It was decided that a brand name should be created to include the Northern Mexico and Southeastern Arizona Region. There should be a Regional Brochure to inform tourist about the laws governing both sides of the border. A Web Site should be created for the new coalition for which we have yet to decide on a name of. Create a plan for marketing the region.
The major areas of action would be in Tourism, Employment, Infrastructure, and Border Security. It was decided that tourism is best handled through marketing. I believe that Susan Wallace came away with some very good ideas in this area. Employment is covered by the increase of business in the region. Infrastructure is basically making the region easier to access from both sides of the borders. Border Security is always an issue. It was noted that the region is the safest along the U.S. and Mexico border.
The next meeting will be held March 8th in Cannea Mexico and I believe it will be a very productive meeting since the areas of action has been narrowed to just a few topics. The alliance has a lot of potential and I hope it keeps moving forward.

Deal to overhaul Immigration System Close?

A bipartisan group of eight leading senators — including Marco Rubio of Florida and New Jersey’s Robert Menendez — have reached a tentative deal on a systematic overhaul of the country’s immigration system.

The agreement covers border security, guest workers, employer verification and a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in this country.

SUMMARY

The senators will call for accomplishing four goals:
—Creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas.
—Reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university.
—Creating an effective employment verification system to ensure that employers do not hire illegal immigrants.
—Allowing more low-skill workers into the country and allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can demonstrate they couldn't recruit a U.S. citizen; and establishing an agricultural worker program.

The senators will present the principles of their deal to rewrite the nation's immigration laws at a news conference Monday afternoon. Sources told Fox News that they expect to finish writing the new bill and introduce it by March or April.

Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation's inefficient patchwork of immigration laws.

President Barack Obama also is putting immigration reform front and center. He’s expected to travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday to lay out his vision, which is expected to overlap with the Senate effort.

The eight senators expected to endorse the new principles Monday are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

What's changed, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle — including maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle — that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

- Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on a major reform bill pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn't get enough GOP support.

Now, with some Republicans chastened by the November elections which demonstrated the importance of Latino voters and their increasing commitment to Democrats, some in the GOP say this time will be different.

"What's changed, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle — including maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle — that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill," McCain said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

"I think the time is right," McCain said.

The group claims a notable newcomer in Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate whose conservative chops may help smooth the way for support among conservatives wary of anything that smacks of amnesty. In an opinion piece published Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rubio wrote that the existing system amounts to "de facto amnesty," and he called for "commonsense reform."

According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the senators will call for accomplishing four goals:

1. Creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas.
2. Reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university.
3. Creating an effective employment verification system — the one currently used is called “E-Verify” — to ensure that employers do not hire undocumented immigrants.
4. Allowing more low-skill workers into the country and allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can demonstrate they couldn't recruit a U.S. citizen; and establishing an agricultural worker program.

The principles being released Monday are outlined on just over four pages, leaving plenty of details left to fill in. What the senators do call for is similar to Obama's goals and some past efforts by Democrats and Republicans, since there's wide agreement in identifying problems with the current immigration system.

The highest point of contention is likely to arise over how to accomplish the path to citizenship.

In order to satisfy the concerns of Rubio and other Republicans, the senators are calling for the completion of steps on border security and oversight of those here on visas before taking major steps forward on the path to citizenship.

Even then, those here illegally would have to qualify for a "probationary legal status" that would allow them to live and work here — but not qualify for federal benefits — before being able to apply for permanent residency. Once they are allowed to apply they would do so behind everyone else already in line for a green card within the current immigration system.

That could be a highly cumbersome process, but how to make it more workable is being left to future negotiations. The senators envision a more streamlined process toward citizenship for immigrants brought here as children by their parents and for agricultural workers.

The debate will play out at the start of Obama's second term, as he aims to spend the political capital afforded him by his re-election victory on an issue that has eluded past presidents and stymied him during his first term despite his promises to the Latino community to act.

"As the president has made clear for some time, immigration reform is an important priority and he is pleased that progress is being made with bipartisan support," a White House spokesman, Clark Stevens, said in a statement. "At the same time, he will not be satisfied until there is meaningful reform and he will continue to urge Congress to act until that is achieved."

For Republicans, the November elections were a stark schooling on the importance of Latino voters, who voted for Obama over Republican Mitt Romney 71 percent to 27 percent, helping ensure Obama's victory. That led some Republican leaders to conclude that supporting immigration reform with a path to citizenship has become a political imperative.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.