Astronaut Jose Hernandez Thinks America Should Legalize Undocumented Workers, And He Said It, Too!

First Mexican-American in space Jose Hernandez, in his usual I am brown, hear me roar style, told Televisa on Monday:

The American economy needs [immigrant workers.] I believe it’s only fair to find a way to legalize them and give them an opportunity to work openly, so they can also retire in a traditional U.S. system.

You can take the Mexican away from the earth, but you cannot take the earthly pain away from the Mexican. What got Astro Jose thinking about all this, he said later, was that he saw our war torn planet from far away and all the borders just melted away. Aw. Of course, NASA was quick to distance themselves from his statements:

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield told The Associated Press that Hernandez was expressing his personal views, “not representing NASA, the astronaut office or any NASA organization in his responses.”

You gotta admire Jose. Whether it’s waving his scapular around on the shuttle, eating burritos in space or speaking out politically, dude is unafraid to represent at his job.

Check out Astronaut Jose Hernandez dancing the conga in space.