While in the Senate, Abraham was well known for breaking with the Republican Party line on immigration issues. In his role as Energy Secretary, however, it is unlikely that he will be faced with any immigration-related concerns. The nominee for Secretary of State, retired General Colin Powell, is the son of immigrants from Jamaica. During his speech to the Republican National Convention last summer, he made the following comments on immigration We invite skilled workers to come to America from all over the world to fill the good jobs that are waiting here. I think that's great.
Immigration is our life's blood.
I am the son of immigrants. But I also want our kids educated and trained for those jobs. Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson is Bush s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Following the 1996 welfare reform law, which made immigrants ineligible for many federally funded social services, Wisconsin continued to provide Medicaid to legal immigrants and a few years later restored food stamp eligibility to legal immigrants. Mel Martinez, the nominee for Housing and Urban Development, is a Cuban immigrant, one of the many children who arrived in the US without parents following the revolution that placed Fidel Castro in power.