Rep. Don Young (R-AK) released a statement Thursday that said he “meant no disrespect” by referring to farm workers on his father’s ranch as “wetbacks.”
“During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California,” Young said, according to the Anchorage Daily News. “I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.”
During an interview with KRBD on Thursday, Young said: “My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes. It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”
