Congressman Don Young Describes Latinos As 'Wetbacks' [VIDEO]

Representative Don Young, R-Alaska, made headlines when he used a racial slur to describe Latino migrant workers.

On Thursday in a radio interview with KRBD-FM the senior Republican congressman addressed the United States' job situation. He discussed the large impact of technology in the workplace, and in turn described his father's past employees as "wetbacks."

"My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," Young said. "It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It's all done by machine."

The term "wetback" has been used in the past to refer to Mexicans who entered the U.S. by swimming or wading across the Rio Grande.

This derogatory comment is coming only two weeks after word broke that Young will be investigated for an alleged ethics violation that include failure to report gifts on financial disclosure forms and lying to federal officials.

This morning, following the backlash, Young released a statement declaring he "meant no disrespect."

According to NBC News' First Read, the statement read: "During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."