White House responds to 'Deport Justin Bieber' petition

WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- The White House was forced to respond to calls for the administration to deport Justin Bieber back to Canada, when a "Deport Justin Bieber" petition reached the necessary 100,000 signatures on WhiteHouse.gov last January.

"We the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly represented in the world of pop culture," the petition read. "We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked. He is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nations youth. We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our society."

In its official response, published over the weekend, the White House declined to comment on Bieber's legal troubles, steering the conversation toward the broader issue of immigration reform.

"We'll leave it to others to comment on Mr. Bieber’s case, but we’re glad you care about immigration issues. Because our current system is broken," the administration said. "Too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers, and 11 million people are living in the shadows."

"Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next 20 years. For those of you counting at home, that’s 12.5 billion concert tickets -- or 100 billion copies of Mr. Bieber’s debut album," it continued.

Bieber is currently in the United States on the O-1 visa, limited to to performers or artists who can claim "extraordinary ability or achievement."

[WhiteHouse.gov, THR]