CLINTON SPEAKS ON IMMIGRATION.

Byline: LISA M. SODDERS Staff Writer

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Latinos can be a unifying force in the national immigration debate, but they need to acknowledge concerns about national security, the rule of law and the fear of lowered wages.

Clinton spoke Saturday at a ``Cafe con Clinton'' breakfast meeting at the start of the National Council of La Raza's annual conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, the council is hosting a four-day event expected to draw at least 20,000 people.

Clinton said the immigration debate in Washington, D.C., is being shaped by a small group of Republican hard-liners who are motivated by ideology. They believe in a ``financial elite,'' and the concentration of wealth and power, instead of ``the power and the greatness of middle-class families'' and viewing America as a family that includes everyone, Clinton said.

Taking a hard line on immigration ``sounds good, and it's a way of creating a divided country and distracting people from the real challenges facing society,'' he said.

``They're not bad people,'' Clinton said. ``They really believe the world works better if they run it and we keep our mouths shut.''

He praised President George W. Bush for siding with moderate Republicans on immigration, noting that Bush is from Texas, which has a large immigrant population, and ``it's hard to demonize people if you know them.''

Clinton urged Latinos to mobilize on a grass-roots level for change, and said the politics of demonization won't help anyone.

``You can be a glue, because you have the ethics of work and family,'' Clinton said. ``You can build up the (moderate) forces in the Republican party'' so the two political parties can have honest discussions and ``wind up with a better solution than either of us could come up with on our own.''

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who introduced Clinton to the crowd, said the United States has witnessed ``a community coming-of-age in America'' since the peaceful March 25 pro-immigration demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles that drew more than a half a million people.

Although some may have struggled to speak English, ``the message couldn't have been any clearer, any more eloquent, fluidly and fundamentally American: They want nothing more than to live and work and raise their kids and provide for their families,'' he said.

The mayor urged the crowd to demand immigration reform that respects those who ``work hard and play by the rules,'' and doesn't criminalize someone who ``reaches out and helps an immigrant only guilty of wanting a better life.''

``We all know America as not built by people with trust funds,'' Villaraigosa said. ``It was made with the toil and the dreams -- los suenos -- of its immigrants.''

In addition to a host of nationally known speakers, including Republican political strategist Karl Rove on Tuesday, the conference offers a host of free workshops -- many in Spanish -- on homeownership, health and citizenship.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cut the ribbon to the Latino Expo with Villaraigosa and National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguia, who served as a deputy assistant to Clinton. The governor and mayor were mobbed by press and conference-goers who snapped photos of them both with cameras and cell phones.

Juana, 25, and Chanquin Naranjo, 32, of South Gate were pleased when the governor and mayor kissed their 5-month-old twins, Jaquelin and Karina.

But Chanquin Naranjo said he was more excited about the mayor's attention than Schwarzenegger's, ``because he is a Latino, too, and I know how he feels.''

``My people, we only want to work,'' said Naranjo, who is a U.S. citizen originally from Guatemala. He added that the United States should keep criminals out, but make it easier for hard-working people to immigrate and become citizens.

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