Former President Bush Tackles Immigration —With His Paintbrush

DALLAS —Ex-President George W. Bush is putting his unique vantage point to good use.

With a new book out this week called "Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants," the 45th president looks back at the nation he led as "a city upon a hill," built by foreigners who hoped to build better lives under the Stars and Stripes.

But the portraits he's painted within are very much of the moment, as Americans grapple with what it means to be a citizen, who should be permitted entry, and how.

Immigration was a policy initiative throughout Bush's presidency, and it seems that unfinished business remains on his agenda. This time, his appeal is directly to the heart, and to those who remember that the Great Seal of the United States, "E Pluribus Unum," when translated from the Latin means "out of many, one."

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In the introduction, Bush writes, “While I recognize that immigration can be an emotional issue, I reject the premise that it is a partisan issue. It is perhaps the most American of issues, and it should be one that unites us. . . . My hope is that this book will help focus our collective attention on the positive impacts that immigrants are making on our country.”

That's George W. Bush looking forward with hope that a more just and equitable path to citizenship might yet become law. The former president hopes that by sharing the portraits and the stories of his immigrant subjects, his book will serve to remind Americans that immigrants built this country, and although most came from foreign soil, those who arrived on these shores had a common bond: each wanted a piece of the American Dream, and to pass the fruits of their labor on to their descendants.

In conjunction with the George W. Bush Institute’s ongoing work on immigration policy, an exhibition on the value of immigrants to America featuring the President’s portraits is now open to the public at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Some 35 different countries and numerous cultures are represented, according to the book publishers, and the subjects range from such well-known names as Dirk Nowitzki, Indra Nooyi, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright to everyday individuals living lives out of the limelight.

"All are extraordinary for having overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to create a new future for themselves as Americans," the publishers say in a statement.

Bush himself is donating a portion of the book's sales to benefit organizations helping immigrants resettle, as well as the Bush Institute and its ongoing work on the issue.

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