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White House Red-Faced Over Rove Immigration Remark
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ShareFebruary 09, 2007 6:42 PM
ABC News' Karen Travers Reports: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove explained the Bush Administration's guest worker program and immigration policy at a luncheon Thursday by saying, "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."
The statement appeared on The Corner, National Review's blog, and has been gaining steam ever since.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino told ABC News that the White House does not deny that Rove made the remark but claims it has been taken out of context.
Rove was speaking at a Republican women's luncheon and was talking about the President's immigration policy and the need for a system where willing workers get paired with willing employers, Perino said.
Rove talked about how there are so many vacant jobs in this country and how many of them are in low-skill, low-wage sectors of the economy.
Rove was not insulting those people in those jobs, the White House explained, he was, according to Perino, saying that every parent wants their child to have a high-skilled, high-wage job.
Perino said Rove addressed the fact that immigrants are coming to this country -- and doing anything they can to get here -- and want their children to have those same opportunities for good jobs.
She said Rove addressed the need for a program that helps immigrants be able to come to America and work legally because they have dreams and goals.
Perino said that Rove was "disappointed" that this blogger took his remarks out of context.
President Bush’s immigration policy, announced last March, is based on three principles (border security, enforcement of existing immigration laws and the creation of a temporary worker program) and included five key points:
1. Secure the US borders
2. Create a temporary worker program
3. Hold employers accountable for the workers they hire
4. Face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here
5. Honor the American tradition of a melting pot
February 9, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1)
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I have to laugh at all the liberals who don't see the hypocracy here. You all condemn Rove and the Republicans for wanting cheap labor and being elite. Yet you have someone like Nancy Pelosi as your hand-picked House Leader. She is as elite as they come and owns businesses that survive on low-wage workers.
The comment that "rich republicans simply want cheap labor and hispanic votes to maintain power and continue with their programs" is a hoot. It's the democrats that consistently court the hispanic vote by pressing for loosened immigration standards, open borders and similar ideas.
Posted by: John | Feb 19, 2007 11:54:19 AM
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