Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says illegal immigrants do essential work in the U.S. and he has firsthand knowledge of that — because they fix his house.
Powell, a moderate Republican, urged his party Sunday to support immigration generally because it is “what’s keeping this country’s lifeblood moving forward.”
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said a path to legal status should be offered to illegal immigrants because they “are doing things we need done in this country.”
He added: “They’re all over my house, doing things whenever I call for repairs, and I’m sure you’ve seen them at your house. We’ve got to find a way to bring these people out of the darkness and give them some kind of status.”
Powell did not say whether he’s hired illegal immigrants directly or they showed up with contractors.
Powell was President George W. Bush‘s first-term secretary of state and the nation’s top military officer in the presidency of Bush’s father and in the early months of the Clinton administration. Despite his Republican standing — he was once considered a formidable prospect for the GOP presidential or vice presidential nominations but stayed out of contention — he endorsed Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
In lamenting the party’s rightward drift Sunday, he said Republicans must not become anti-immigration and spoke in support of legislation that would give certain children of illegal immigrants a way to become citizens if they pursue a college education or military service.
Immigration, he said, offers the U.S. a chance to maintain a youthful population in contrast with the aging of Europe and Japan.
Powell also said “fringe” elements on the right are taking a low road when they label Obama a foreign-born Muslim and peddle other false theories about non-American influences on the president’s character. Obama was born in the U.S. and is Christian.
“Let’s attack him on policy, not nonsense,” he said.
And he said the tea party may not become an enduring force unless it moves beyond slogans and promotes an agenda that people “can see, touch and actually believe in.” It’s not enough, he said, to call for goals that most Americans support, such as controlled federal spending and adherence to the Constitution.
The former secretary of state said he still sees Obama as a transformational figure, if one who has lost some of his ability to connect with people.
Powell said he’s not giving up on the GOP, even in the face of a rightward drift, and says it might actually help Obama if Republicans win the House in November and gain responsibility for driving policy, not just opposing Democrats.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press
7 thoughts on “Powell uses illegals for home repairs”
“If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen.”
“The system took advantage of me.”
Those are two quotes from the famed Aunt Zeituni of the Obama blood line. This is from an interview with WBZ reporter Jonathan Elais. I guess that “taking advantage” is the housing allowance, disability check, food stamps and a myriad of other taxpayer funded services. Auntie conveniently left out the illegal part which she is.
Maybe Powell can give her a job?
Is Auntie remotely aware of the damage she causes with such brazen comments? Talk about supplying ammunition.
Powell (maybe) has now joined the ranks of assorted Democrats and Republicans who do things on the cheap or when they look for the union label start to shake over the consequences of paying a prevailing wage. What a sorry lot.
Looks like sarcasm gone astray with Bill. I hope…..
Bill, how’s that knee of yours? I’m assuming you may have hurt it, you know… jerking it around so quickly.
Right! He should be shot. Then we should take out all the illegals, going back as many generations as necessary, line them up against a wall, and shoot them too. After that we need to round up the Romany and then the Jews and then the Catholics, and dump them into Concentration Camps until the Cyklon B gets here from Germany. Then we can grab those left wingers, and stuff them into the ovens on a priority basis. Oh yeah, almost forgot the homos and lesbies. Fry them with a little arsenic and feed that to the prisoners, but not before we harvest their organs.
Who’d I forget? Help me out you Tpartiers.
Perhaps you could volunteer to test the Zyklon for us. You certainly do not appear to have any other reason to be on this green Earth.
Doug, if you want to ban me for this, you just go right ahead and do so. This post is WAY beyond the pale.
From ABC: Outrage: Illegal Alien Felon Makes ‘Living’ Filing Hundreds of Frivolous Lawsuits (under ADA)
So the guy that went to the UN and lied to the world concerning Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction uses illegal immigrant labor to perform home repairs. Imagine my surprise. And all this time I’ve been wasting money employing an American citizen at $25/hour to fix up my house.
I guess some people really have no scruples.
Yep Woody! I too thought it proves that the former General and ‘Good Secretary of State’ has lost his steerage so to speak. Forgiving words for publicly decrying that he’s certifiably a liar and possibly “nuts” too is not possible. : |
Carl Nemo **==
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