KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Surprise Appearance: Karl Rove Joins Cornyn, Hall To Talk Immigration

Surprise Appearance: Karl Rove Joins Cornyn, Hall To Talk Immigration

There was an unexpected visitor to a conference on immigration in Tyler Tuesday: President Bush's right-hand-man for years, Karl Rove.

One of the most polarizing figures in politics says most Americans have the facts of illegal immigration all wrong. 

The former Deputy Chief of Staff joined Senator John Cornyn and Congressman Ralph Hall to debate the broader and the finer points of immigration with more than 100 East Texas business leaders. 

Rove directly took on the issue of the deportation of illegal immigrants.

"We can't just root them out and not have some economic damage done to our country. Let's be honest about it.  It's going to cost big economic damage to our country.  Not only will prices of a lot of things go up, but we're going to see a lot of jobs leave the country and never come home again," Rove said.

"Only the federal government has the authority to create a legal national immigration system that will meet the needs of Texas employers," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Any system, Cornyn says, must provide just as much foreign labor for Texas businesses as they're getting now, while still strengthening security.

Morgan Palmer, Reporting morganpalmer@kltv.com