Douglas uses occasion of arrests to talk immigration to Chertoff

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Governor Jim Douglas and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff talked immigration reform when they met yesterday in Burlington.

But it took the arrest of two immigrant farm workers in Franklin County to prompt the discussion.

It was apparently a coincidence that the Mexican workers were apprehended by the Border Patrol the same day that Chertoff was in Vermont to promote a state plan for enhanced driver’s licenses.

Douglas’s spokesman says the governor, a Republican, told Chertoff that he supported an agriculture jobs bill being promoted by Vermont U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat.

A Chertoff spokesman says the secretary also favors immigration reform.

The immigrants were arrested as they arrived for work at Dodd Farms in Franklin.

AP Photo/Toby Talbot

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