Posted on 05/21/2006 4:13:45 PM PDT by notes2005
President Bush has always been drawn to stories of Latino immigrants who came up by their bootstraps, and he has one inspiring example close to home, report Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe, White House Correspondent Holly Bailey and Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in Newsweek's May 29 issue (on newsstands Monday, May 22).
Mexican-born citizen Maria Galvan, 53, has worked for Bush, looked after his daughters, befriended his wife and won the affection of the first family for her loyalty, decency and hard work. As governor of Texas, Bush encouraged his housekeeper to become a U.S. citizen.
Galvan got a job at the Texas governor's mansion just as Bush moved in with his family in 1995. (The White House last week refused to comment on Galvan, except to say that she is a U.S. citizen; White House aides were silent on how she entered the country and what her legal status was at the time.)
The Bushes liked Galvan so much that they brought her to Washington, D.C., in 2001. She lives in the White House, travels with the first family and looks after their beloved dogs. She is said by White House insiders, who refuse to be identified discussing first family matters, to be "part of the family," which is unusual for staff in the formal, institutionalized Executive Mansion.
Bush recognized early on that inspiring Latino family stories could be a boon to the Republican Party. "He appreciates how close Latino families are with each other," says Israel Hernandez, an early campaign aide whom Bush hired after hearing his family story. "For a long time, he's talked about how these are the qualities he thinks the party represents. He has always talked about immigration in a very compassionate way."
But the president's willingness to help illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship sets him apart from many vocal conservatives in the Republican Party and the divide could paralyze the effort to bring much-needed reform to the nation's immigration laws.
Just had to ping you. Have you ever seen anything so patronizing and condescending?
Gonzales explained that both his grandparents and his father are dead -- so they can't be asked -- and his mother doesn't know. And that's why he told CNN he wasn't sure about his grandparents' immigration status.
"I was trying to be honest," he said.
He said the only clue he has is that his mother remembers having to go to the post office regularly in the United States. That, Gonzales contends, could mean that family members were taking care of residency paperwork.
But he doesn't know for sure.
If she was illegal I find it hard to believe it didn't come up in the national elections already...
I can imagine the reason...Every person running had their own housekeeper with questionable papers (or not). Why would you ask a question you would not want to be asked. President needs to really get this straightened out. I don't care what the house and senate does until they fix this. They are playing with our heads again with the Gay Marriage thing. They think we will turn around again and get it shoved up...not.
Geez...the hate for Bush rises on FR almost exponentially day after day.
Wrong...disappointment. Isn't it well earned?
Yes; he should redirect his admiration at someone who immigrated here, pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, perhaps started as a maid and is now the owner of successful business, etc.
Selective application of laws and ethics is as bad as none at all. When Groege Bush nominated Linda Chavez for Secretary of Labor she was ripped to shreds by dems who discovered she had helped an immigrant woman by employing her while working to get her naturalized. Chavez' nomination was withdrawn. Bush, Rove & Co. did nothing to support her.
She sure was and that was such a shame. She would have done such a good job.
The ones who do know are the illegals flooding over our borders. I guess that should give us some idea - Mexico sucks as a country or they wouldn't be leaving it in droves. (I don't care if they come - they just need to come legally.)
Besides, teens wouldn't be doing a lot of what they are doing if they were watched a bit more closely.
She's a U.S. citizen.
His sister-in-law is from Mexico.
That bugged me, too--not spending a little capital for Linda Chavez. Wonder if someone was afraid standing up for Linda would attract a little attn?
Good point. You know I think she is such a professional. on Townhall.com, Linda writes some articles and I e-mail her every now and then about a certain article and she gets back to me pretty quickly. To me if you can get back to people and give a little curtescy then I know she would take seriously her job in the administration. I hope that she will be able to get another job with an administration that appreciates her.
However nasty Demi was, the trial judge cancelled his citizenship because of fraudulent misrepresentation of his documents.
Gonzales grandparents most likely got here BEFORE the present system (under which they'd been illegals).
I don't think the Senate is in synch with American opinion on the matter, and certainly not in synch with FR opinion.
But it never would have come up at all had it not been for his alleged war crimes. They didn't pull him up for bogus documents and then "discover" his past!
Well said!
I'd get into a verbal debate wit-cha, but I'm heading out to vandalize some old ladies' cars.
What are you? Her lawyer?
She can fight her own battles. Or, can't she?
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