Boehner Blasts Alaska’s Don Young For ‘Wetbacks’ Comment

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Friday condemned the use of the term “wetbacks” by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, one of the party’s most senior members of Congress.

Young’s statement, his quick apology, and Boehner’s statement that the remark was “beneath the dignity of the office he holds,” come at a particularly sensitive time for the Republican Party in its relationship with Hispanic voters.

Latinos voted overwhelmingly for President Obama in November, and the GOP is attempting to navigate calls for changes in immigration law, with more party leaders now backing a so-called path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, which is opposed by many conservatives.

Young used the term “wetbacks” in describing Hispanic migrant workers who used to pick tomatoes on his father’s family ranch. He made the comments in an interview released Thursday with an Alaska radio station.

“My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 or 60 wetbacks and — to pick tomatoes,” Young said. “You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”

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