The Positive Impact of Immigrants

the art of painting to honor the everyday heroes of America. His new book shines a spotlight on America’s immigrants and their stirring stories, highlighting how hard work, strong values, dreams and determination know no borders or boundaries. From the April 26, 2021, online program “President George W. Bush: Out of Many, One—Portraits of America’s Immigrants.” PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, Author, Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants IN CONVERSATION WITH KORI SCHAKE, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

KORI SCHAKE: I am honored to have the opportunity to talk with President George W. Bush about his new book Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants, which is a pairing of portraits he’s painted of American immigrants with discussion of their life journeys. The book profiles 43 first-generation Americans, all still living when he painted them. Mr. President, welcome.

Thank you Kori. And thanks to The Commonwealth Club as well. I appreciate the opportunity to share some thoughts. SCHAKE: Let’s start by having you tell us about your purpose in creating the book. What were you hoping to do? BUSH: I’m hoping to bring some sense into what is a heated dialogue right now. The immigration issue has been an important issue to me. After all, I was a governor of Texas, and we dealt with a lot of issues with Mexico. And I tried as president to fix a broken system. It’s still broken. I’ve been troubled by the rhetoric, however, surrounding this issue. It just goes to show what a political football it’s been. And I hope to bring a positive perspective to the role immigrants have played in our [country]. So I picked 43 people, some of whom are famous, and then some of them people never heard of. All of whom are good contributors to our country. SCHAKE: You write in the book that “Americans can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time.” It reminded me of your emphasis on compassionate conservatism, which seems to be so lacking in our current political climate. Is that in your mind? BUSH: I am not trying to defend that political philosophy. I am trying to move the needle on fixing a broken system. And it starts with talking about positive things.

Former President George W. Bush. (DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II.)

Left: Kori Schake interviews President George W. Bush for The Commonwealth Club. Right: The cover of Bush’s new book focusing on the images and stories of America’s immigrants.

Look, one of the bases of this book—and it may be compassionate conservatism to some—is that we’re all God’s children and every life is precious. Now I know that sounds corny to some, but if that’s the basis from which to approach an issue, all of a sudden individual stories become a part of a larger whole right now, [instead of just] “How can I win politically on this issue?” on both sides. Therefore the [current] rhetoric is [too] harsh. It’s not becoming of our country, and nothing’s going to get done. So my temper is to try to advance the agenda. The truth of the matter is we can’t reform the whole package at once. There are some small steps that can be taken, and we’re trying to advance the small steps that can be taken. SCHAKE: I love this quote from one of the people you profile in the book, [former PepsiCo Chair and CEO] Indra Nooyi. She’s talking about America, and she says, “It’s the one country in the world where creativity flourished, individuality was cherished, innovation was rampant and the future of the world was going to be determined by it.” You write that immigration is a sign of a confident and successful nation. Are you worried that we’re becoming a less confident nation? BUSH: Yes, I am. First of all, I loved Indra’s quote as well, and I hope she likes her portrait. A lot of people don’t know her history, but she came here to go to graduate school —and thank goodness she did, because she brought enormous brainpower, skill, management expertise, and she ran PepsiCo.

A confident nation is one that says we can both enforce our border and treat people with respect. But throughout our history, there have been moments of high populist drama that yields isolation, as in protectionism and nativism. We’re kind of in a nativist period, and it’s going to require leaders to stand up and say “We can do better—and here’s an aspirational goal.” One of the goals is to enforce our borders, which we can do once we fix the system and treat people with respect. SCHAKE: I was struck by how personal a book this is. You quote your brothers and sister, your daughters. I especially like the way you conjured your mother so vividly, especially her posting rules on your bedroom doors. And that one of those rules was “Ask Paula if you can help her.” Tell the story of Paula Rendon. BUSH: I’m a teenager. It’s raining like mad in Houston. The doorbell rings. “George, go get the door.” “Yes ma’am. Yes, mother.” Anyway, so I go get the door and there’s a little woman, just kind of tiny, scared. It’s the introduction of Paula Rendon to our family. She had come up with a work visa; mother and dad hired her. She was with our family

from ’59 to like 2010. And maybe a little later than that. And she was our second mother.

We watched her save money, buy a house, bring up three kids. The kids graduated from college. I mean, it’s unbelievable. It was my introduction to immigration. This is what immigrants mean. When I was a governor of Texas, I said family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande river. And I had Paula in mind when I said that, because I watched her work hard to support her family.

It’s still the case today. A lot of people coming here, they’re doing work that needs to be done, are supporting their families and they care deeply about their families. So Paula is a good lesson for me. SCHAKE: Talk a little bit if you would about the presidential scholars program at the [George W. Bush] Institute. BUSH: We think one of the underutilized assets in our country are the four presidential libraries down here. My dad’s, mine, LBJ’s and Bill Clinton’s. These libraries atrophy very quickly once the name disappears. So I want to make sure that we had a useful role beyond my life. One useful role is to use leadership lessons from the four presidencies to encourage a whole group of people to become engaged in our society. It’s nonpartisan. People say we need more bipartisanship This is pretty bipartisan when you think about it. So the Clinton library and my library, we figure out who should be in the program. And a lot of the people in this book are people I met through that program. SCHAKE: I laughed reading the story of Joseph Kim, the north Korean escapee, describing the Marine guards at the consulate in China, teaching them how to do push ups and flexing to show him what to eat, to grow strong. In that same recounting I was struck at how prominent a role faith communities

have played, not just in helping Joseph Kim escape North Korea, but throughout the stories of these Americans. Religion is such an important aspect of our immigration system. Would you talk a little bit about how that is represented in the book for you? BUSH: First of all, I think people who are generally religious people ought to be engaged in the immigration debate, because it goes back to what I said earlier—and that is in a positive way, by the way. In the immigration debate, all life is precious. I recognize not every oppressed person can come to our shores, but if we retreat, then a lot of people wonder whether or not we hear their voices. Joseph Kim is a classic case of somebody who went to enormous lengths to escape. One of the things in the story I think will shock people is that his mother was so

—GEORGE W. BUSH

desperate that she took Joseph Kim’s sister to China and sold her in order to have enough food for Joseph and the mother to live. The father had already starved to death.

The mother gets caught going over there to China and gets arrested and dies in prison. So this kid is 14 years old. Alone. Anyway, there are some underground missionaries in China—and they’ve got to be pretty underground in order to survive. But they helped rescue Joseph. Now you’ve got to understand these North Koreans don’t know what God is. I mean, the only guy they know is Kim Jong-un or his father. So religion has a major role in helping refugees and asylum seekers achieve their dreams. Religion ought to play a role here in the United States in terms of helping people because, well, it does. Catholic Charities has had an enormous role in helping some of these immigrants resettle. As a matter of fact, the proceeds of this book go to these organizations that are helping people. America just can’t lose its way when it comes to this, Kori. It’s a really important part of our heritage. So this book talks a lot about people escaping unspeakable conditions. It talks about religious people, helping them resettle in a foreign land. Us. But it also talks about how they themselves end up helping others in this cycle of love that I hope is reflected in this book. SCHAKE: Several of the people portrayed in the book talk in different ways about the importance of retaining their ethnic background. It seems to me that one crucial advantage of our country is that you don’t have to give up your history or your pride in the nation you came from to become an American. That is, we’re all to a large extent hyphenated Americans. It reminded me, as I was reading through the book about the Roosevelts challenging the Daughters of the American Revolution that we’re all immigrants, I think [about] that a lot when sizing up the challenge of a rising China. The Chinese government’s banking on the advantages of a billion people, but the United States is banking on our ability to attract talent. I wonder if you have thoughts about how our domestic debate about immigration might affect our ability to continue attracting immigrants like so many you celebrate in this book. BUSH: That’s a good question. First of all, the minute you start talking about China plus America’s willingness to accept people’s ethnic identities, I think of the Uyghurs or the Tibetans; there’s an example of where the Chinese are trying to wipe out their tradition and history. It’s the opposite of what we believe. If we don’t adhere to that, then people that are hurting for a better way will be discouraged. We say all this knowing full well that border enforcement is going to be very important in order to get anything done. Americans have to be assured that we’re doing our job. But by reforming the system, it means it’s easier to enforce the border.

It’s hard to enforce the border with a broken system. I say all that as kind of a long-winded way of saying there are millions who still want to come here. The American people have got to be assured that not every million will arrive. But one thing that Americans have got to understand, though, is when we speak about the oppressed clearly and show our country as an example of how the oppressed can flourish, it has not only an effect on their psyche, it also is a clear example of what can be. It’s hard for us to be a living example if we don’t in turn treat people with respect here at home. SCHAKE: That segues to the story you tell of the Hermosa family, because it raises the difficult subject of people choosing to overstay their visas in order to remain in the U.S. As I understand, the majority of illegal immigrants in the U.S. are actually people who come into the country on temporary visas and then don’t leave when the visas expire. Could you talk a little about the difficulty of that from a policy perspective? BUSH: Yeah. I made a decision to include the Hermosas, but also to include others, two others who came here, broke the law. . . . By the way, all of them are now unbelievably important contributors. I think the Hermosa

Afghan-born Roya Mahboob became one of the first female tech CEOs in her native country before coming to the United States. She is the co-founder and CEO of Digital Citizen Fund, and her portrait is included in Out of Many, One. She recently spoke to The Commonwealth.

THE COMMONWEALTH: Let’s begin with telling us about your life before you came to the United States. What was it like when you were a young child in Afghanistan? ROYA MAHBOOB: I lived in darkness. When I was a child, the Taliban had got [control of] our cities and the only thing that they loved was darkness. So I lived in darkness. I always wanted to escape from the life that I had, and then we went to Iran and I was a refugee for a while.

In 2003 my family came back to Afghanistan, and then I had a chance to go to university. I finished my university—I got my degree in computer science—and then I started my own company. In 2014 I came to the United States. COMMONWEALTH: You have the experience of having been a migrant to two different countries, in that you moved to Iran and later you move to the United States. Do you think you had a different experience because of your age or perhaps even the eras that you were in these two different countries? MAHBOOB: In Iran it was different timing. I had access to go to the schools, but every year we had challenges, because at that time [the] immigration system in Iran [was dealing with] a lot of immigrants; a lot of Afghans had difficult experiences going to the schools.

Because we were Afghan, we were not allowed to go to certain places, get access to some extra courses, or get better jobs there. I still think that Afghans have these challenges there. But in the U.S. it was different. Because of where my background was, I had better opportunities in the U.S. in terms of my business, in terms of my work or studies, and I can’t compare my time when I was in Iran with the United States.

That’s why I think that many immigrants have a dream to come here, because this is a land of opportunities. No matter your general or social status, you have the same opportunities and access to education, or if you want to be an entrepreneur or even you want to pursue a politician’s career. COMMONWEALTH: Did you have a network of friends, business contacts or family in the United States before you came here? MAHBOOB: Yes. The first time I came to [the United States] was in 2019, and then I visited several times in the United States. Then I started a business in New York, and my business partner sponsored my visa, and that’s how I came to the U.S. COMMONWEALTH: You met President George W. Bush on a trip to Dallas. What was that like? MAHBOOB: I always appreciated President Bush, because he gave us a light in the darkness, and during his terms of president we had a lot of opportunities in Afghanistan. You know that many of the girls right now can go to the schools. . . .

There was a night that we had been invited [to a dinner], and I saw that I am [sitting] next to Mr. President. I can’t even express the words that I was my feeling. So I meet with him and he asks questions and he wants to know, and I could say to him what he has done and what we are going to do, and he was very happy to hear that. I told him that in 2003, I was just introduced to this magic box the computer and [it] changed my life; today we have young leaders learning about robotics and going to the international stage and competing with the world on robotics. He was happy. He and his wife are very supportive of the women in Afghanistan. COMMONWEALTH: What was it like to have President Bush paint your portrait and be included in this book? MAHBOOB: He told me that night, and I was like, “Oh my god.” I couldn’t believe that the president of the country like the United States, the powerful and most respected the country in the world, wants to paint me. I loved my [portrait that he painted]. It looks very beautiful in my bedroom, so I love it. example is one where they admit they made a difficult decision to stay. They were contributing citizens in the Plano area here in Dallas. They paid their taxes. But it really goes to show that had there been a system that said, “Okay, you’re doing a job that needs to be done and therefore there’s a legal way for you to stay here,” then it would have been a different story for them. They wouldn’t have had to overstay their visa.

Secondly, there needs to be a tracking system for tourist visas. Now that’s very difficult, particularly given the civil libertarian nature of our society, but surely technology will enable us to better get a feel for who’s overstaying and where are they.

But I can see it’s a difficult issue. It’s just like the issue of people coming across the border to do work and hanging in there and hoping they don’t get caught—but nevertheless paying taxes. So I guess what I’m trying to say is if we had a better labor policy, high-skilled and low-skilled labor, then it would make a lot of issues like this less relevant. SCHAKE: Let’s talk a little bit about the art in the book. Tell us about the process of painting these portraits. Some have said your earlier paintings of Iraq war veterans must’ve been cathartic for you. Was painting these portraits cathartic in any way? BUSH: Not really. Unlike the Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans—who many of them suffered as a result of my decision—I was more joyful. I was joyful painting the war veterans, too; I was more in awe, let me put it to you that way. But I was in awe and joyful in painting these folks. I never painted anybody until I knew their stories. I had met everybody, except for two. So there was just taking a photograph and trying to copy it with no emotion. I put something into them, and it took me about a year.

The amazing question is, “Why in the hell are you a painter in the first place?” SCHAKE: Why in the hell are you a painter in the first place? BUSH: People view me as a cultural cretin, but to answer your question, it’s because Winston Churchill influenced me. His leadership influenced me a lot and it turns out he was a painter. I read an essay, “Painting as a Pastime,” that he wrote. A fabulous essay. That was at a period in my life when I was busy, but I wasn’t learning enough. I said if he can paint, I can paint. I know it sounds cocky, but you’ve got to be pretty cocky [to] run for president in the first place, you know? Only me out of 320 million of you. Anyway, so I started painting. It turns out I

love painting portraits, because I love people. I paint all the time. [Former Republican National Committee Chair] Ken Mehlman said, “We need your voice in immigration.” I said, “No, you’re not going to have my voice, because I don’t want to be yet another talking head. Nor do I want to criticize my successors.” But I said, “You know what? I’m going to paint portraits and maybe they can tell the story.” Once I got going and [got to] know their stories, I decided to tell them myself. SCHAKE: One of the most powerful portraits was Gilbert Tuhabonye. Would you please tell his story? BUSH: He was here yesterday. He came to Dallas. I got to know Gilbert because he had a running program in Austin, and our daughter Jenna was a University of Texas student. Gilbert got her out of bed every Saturday morning to run. I said, “Man, this guy—if he can get my daughter out of bed Saturday morning to run, he’s got to be some kind of guy.” So I learned his story. He was in Burundi. He was a national track runner. Very successful runner. In high school, a bunch of Hutu surrounded his school during the genocide that took place in Rwanda and Burundi and burned the school down because he was a Tutsi. His body got severely burned; he ran to a hospital. But he never lost his dream of coming to the United States to run. And then [he went] to Abilene Christian [University].

His is a story of perseverance and forgiveness. He’s a joyful person in spite of the fact that his fellow citizens, one of whom was his friend, tried to kill him with fire. He runs his program there called Gilbert’s Gazelles. He also provides fresh water for people in Burundi. Which is by the way the best possible foreign policy for the United States—a foreign policy of effective compassion. And I painted Gilbert.

You’re always a little nervous when they first see their portraits, but he’s like Thear Suzuki. I showed her her portrait; [she’s a refugee from the] Cambodian [genocide]. And she said, “Finally somebody sees me.” SCHAKE: What a beautiful compliment. BUSH: Yeah, it really was. It was a beautiful statement, really.

But anyway, Gilbert’s a good man and there’s a lot of stories like Gilbert’s. I mean, it’s unbelievable what people go through in life and come here and are so appreciative of what our country offers. And that’s the spirit I’m trying to convey to people who bothered to pay attention to the issue. THE COMMONWEALTH: Tell us what your life was like before you came here. ALFREDO DUARTE: I grew up in the mountains of Mexico, [the] Durango— which is part of the Rocky Mountains— and very, very poor. My father was a farmer in those mountains and my mother was a teacher. It was a really small town with 50 people. So you know, it was challenging; it was a very different life. COMMONWEALTH: How did it come about then that you came to the United States? DUARTE: People growing up in those little towns in the mountains . . . have been coming to the United States for many, many years. So it’s always in our mind. We see some of the people that come here to the States, and then they send money back home and build little houses and they’re better off. So you can grow up over there in those towns kind of with your mindset that someday you’re gonna go to the States and make money.

For me, at 12 years old, I started thinking about that. And when I went to work at 14 my father sent me to a [another town] and found me a job. [I was] there for a year, so I was 15 and 6 months when I went back home. [Eventually] I got close to my mom and my dad and I told them one night . . . that I’m gonna leave. I’m gonna be gone. They realized that they couldn’t do anything to stop me, so my father kind of redirected the idea. He said, “Well, you’re going to Tijuana.” He had a brother and a sister in the Los Angeles area, and he said “You need to go.” COMMONWEALTH: Was the actual border crossing scary? DUARTE: In 1975, if you remember if you were in the area, that was the worst flood that the river had. About a month after that happened, we went across the river. They did a human chain, put the shortest ones in the middle so we can pull them out; the girls—we put them on in the middle. That night was scary, very scary. For a minute, I thought that we were going to perish; we were going to drown. But we went across and ended up in the safe house. At that point I realized my body hurt a lot, and I started checking myself. We were full of thorns from going across and hiding on the banks of the river.

So you know, it was not an easy thing. The next day they put me in the trunk of a Crown Victoria—I never forget that. It was four or five guys inside the trunk with me. COMMONWEALTH: In the same trunk? DUARTE: Yes, sir, and it’s how I get to LA—in a trunk of a car. I remember that when I got out of that trunk, I couldn’t even walk. I was kind of paralyzed. COMMONWEALTH: [Later you moved to] Dallas and started your company when you and your brother-in-law took a risk. You got a truck and started selling tomatoes to restaurants. Tell us a bit about getting things started. DUARTE: When I first came in ’83 I got two jobs, and my brother-in-law had this one job selling for a company. I keep telling Jesse, “Yes, we can do this.” Imagine just me with no experience in that business trying to convince a man that has been there 24 years with eight kids, with the good salary, to quit his job and go build a company selling tomatoes. For me, it was an easy decision; when you don’t have anything, you don’t have anything to lose. For him I think it was a harder decision COMMONWEALTH: When you were growing up, was this a dream to be a CEO of a successful multimillion dollar business? DUARTE: No, sir. I don’t think that was the dream at all. A lot of people have asked me about the dream. I think the dream [is] what can we achieve, and then you continue to dream, and it’s a changing thing to your life. We live life in blocks of time. Because like every five years in our lives we have an adjustment [and] everything [changes].

Alfredo Duarte is co-founder and CEO of Dallas-based Taxco Produce, which he started after settling in the United States following his childhood in Mexico. His portrait and story are included in Out of Many, One. He recently spoke to The Commonwealth.