Sacramento, CA - Assembly Member Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) today criticized Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for failing to fully participate in the working sessions of the XXIII Border Governors Conference in Coahuila, Mexico that begins on Thursday, calling the visit “little more than a photo opportunity.”

The Governor only is scheduled to attend a two-hour formal dinner at the conference, and has no plans to attend any of the two-day session’s meetings. After nearly 2 years in office, it is the Governor’s first trip to Mexico.

In contrast, the Governor of New Mexico is expected attend the conference for many of the working sessions, along with the Governors of the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Baja California, Sonora, and Coahuila.

Topics will include agriculture, border crossings, border security, economic development, education, energy, environment, health, and tourism.

“The Governor is missing a golden opportunity to repair relationships and build the trust of our leading trading partner,” said De La Torre. “He should roll up his sleeves and join his counterparts from the United States and Mexico to listen and learn about complex border issues and other challenges we are facing. That requires a commitment to know our neighbors and the issues we all face in order to work on solutions. A photo opportunity yields nothing for Californians, just another out-of-state chicken dinner conversation for the Governor.”

“No other Governor has invited the Minutemen to their state, and perhaps it is because they have a greater understanding of the issue to know it goes beyond enforcement,” De La Torre continued. “Given the Governor’s call to “close” (or “secure”) the border, he finally has an opportunity to discuss such ideas with those facing similar challenges—instead he continues to just talk, talk, talk and take no productive action.”