Thread: Tancredo talks tough on immigration, riles powerful people

Tancredo talks tough on immigration, riles powerful people
GOP presidential candidate has pushed White House contenders to discuss illegal immigration.

By Eunice Moscoso
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Friday, December 14, 2007

WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom Tancredo likes a good fight.

The Colorado Republican, who is running for president, has managed to upset a variety of powerful people, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Republican strategist Karl Rove and just about every Hispanic advocacy group in Washington.

The source of the conflicts: Tancredo's unyielding battle against illegal immigration and what he calls the "cult of multiculturalism."

Labeled a hero of the working class by some and a dangerous xenophobe by others, Tancredo has taken his tough talk on the political road in an underdog campaign that has pushed Republican White House contenders to talk more about illegal immigration.

Tancredo pulls no punches on his signature issue.

"You have a massive legal and illegal immigration of a great many people who don't want to be Americans," he said. "It's dangerous. We could end up with a cultural, linguistic and even political Tower of Babel."

Tancredo, 61, grew up in a Denver suburb without any memorable exposure to illegal immigration. A Republican from a young age, he recalls being one of two students in his Catholic high school who voted in a mock election against then-Sen. John Kennedy, who would become the first Catholic U.S. president.

Tancredo worked throughout high school and college at an amusement park in Denver, where he started sweeping floors and eventually became the park's general manager.

He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado and became a junior high school civics teacher.

Tancredo said his concern over illegal immigration began when Colorado implemented bilingual education, which puts Spanish-speaking students into separate classes.

Students with Hispanic surnames who didn't even speak Spanish were put into the classes, which was ridiculous and harmful, Tancredo said.

Tancredo later ran for a state House seat and won. He never succeeded in abolishing the bilingual education program.

He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1998. He and his wife, Jackie, have been married for 30 years.

As the immigration issue heated up in the past few years, so did Tancredo's notoriety. He has become a frequent guest on talk radio shows and often appears on television.

Bill Salier, who is running Tancredo's Iowa operation, said he was drawn to the lawmaker because Tancredo is a true conservative with a strong stance against abortion and in favor of abolishing the U.S. tax code, establishing greater border security and assimilating immigrants.

"To change our culture to match others who want to come here is clearly not what's going to maintain the greatness of America," said Salier, who once ran for the U.S. Senate.

Supporters also point to Tancredo's softer side. Tancredo organized the gathering of food and medical supplies to help after a school hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia. Tancredo delivered them in person, along with letters of encouragement from students at Columbine High School, where a school shooting had occurred a few years earlier.

Tancredo has also worked with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to raise awareness and pass legislation aimed at ending the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.

But Tancredo's stance on immigration has drawn harsh words from critics, who accused him of being an extremist and of being hostile to Hispanics and other minorities.

"His presence in the race will continue to signal to Latinos that Republicans are really very divided on whether we are good for this country," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization. "He really reflects an uglier side of the (Republican) party."

Tancredo, a grandson of Italian immigrants, dismisses those allegations. He said he feels compassion for illegal immigrants, but has greater compassion for American workers he says are suffering because of the government's failure to stop illegal immigrants.

Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University, said that Tancredo's focus on illegal immigration has helped elevate the issue but has not propelled Tancredo forward in the standings.

"You can't be a single-issue candidate on an issue that isn't the number one concern," Schmidt said.

Tancredo's fight with Jeb Bush began when Tancredo likened Miami to a Third World country. It prompted an angry exchange in letters and statements with the Florida governor, who eventually called Tancredo "a nut."

Previously, Tancredo clashed with Richardson when he accused the New Mexico governor of using emergency federal funds to keep tabs on the Minutemen citizen border patrol group.

Tancredo makes no apologies for his statements and says he does not worry about upsetting powerful people.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, a California Republican who succeeded Tancredo as leader of an unofficial caucus pushing for more immigration enforcement, said Tancredo was instrumental in making illegal immigration a top issue in Congress.

"He shocked Washington into paying attention. He rattled their cages, and that's what it takes," Bilbray said.


Tom Tancredo

Born: Dec. 20, 1945, in Denver, Colo.

Education: B.A., University of Northern Colorado, 1968

Experience: Teacher, Drake Junior High School, Denver.

Political career: Colorado State Legislature, 1976-81; U.S. House of Representatives, 1999-present.

Religion: Evangelical Presbyterian

Family: Wife, Jackie Tancredo; two sons; five grandchildren.



www.statesman.com

Great article! Is it me, or do I smell propaganda when there's LOTS of money to be made?

Tom Tancredo is actually a VERY GOOD speaker, and that’s what frightens the GREED of this country.. Why do you think they won't let him have a word in edgewise?! I attended a meeting here in SLC, where he was the guest speaker, and my oh my, was I surprised! He didn’t announce his candidacy for president until much later. As for being a ‘single issue candidate’..

Balderdash!

Tom is an intelligent, charismatic and articulate person that WON’T be a ‘puppet’ to ‘elites’! He saw what others did not, and is making a point those concerns are met. I will continue to support him..


Go Tom! *Tom Tancredo! www.TeamTancredo.com !








The info below is part of my ‘extended’ signature, I change it from time to time..

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StateLegislatorsForLegalImmigration.com

http://statelegislatorsforlegalimmigrat ... 2.53&gen=1

Everyone call!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes.. LA is in trouble!

Here's a bit I've heard from Kevin James and Terry Anderson's radio shows, [see the radio links below..]

Walter Moore! www.WalterMooreForMayor.com

SAVE Los Angeles! ‘Senor’ Antonio NEEDS the boot, NOW!

Los Angeles’s Police Chief: Bill Bratton? Bad Guy!! www.BrattonMustGo.com


PS:
Great Radio!

www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&f ... ic&t=85728

AND..

www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&f ... ic&t=76263


Be sure to call and write these guys and give them your stories and info, they depend on you too..!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ALL should READ 1996 immigration code!! *The LAW!*

Federal Immigration and Nationality Act: Section 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii):

www.AmericanPatrol.com/REFERENCE/AidAbe ... C1324.html


There are between 30-50 MILLION illegal aliens in the U.S. today, of which 85% ARE Hispanic, and of those, 85% ARE from Mexico, hence the title: The MEXICAN INVASION! There’s NOTHING ‘racial’ about the FACTS!

Mexico’s government actually distributes leaflets to the 40% of PROSPECTIVE illegal MIGRANTS that plan to cross the desert SEE:

http://www.amren.com/mexguide/mexguide.html Even Mexico calls them exactly what they are, MIGRANTS!

Interesting, I can't seem to get this link: www.amren.com/mexguide/mexguide.html to work right in this forum?! It is a good link and works. The word: am ren.com/mexguide/mexguide.html [without the space], is defaulting to a capital ‘L’ before and after four **** stars..??!! HUH?! Maybe someone can help me out on that.

anyway..

But the vast MAJORITY [about 60%] of illegals use ‘points of entry’. An interesting PERSONAL observation on this, is that they just pay a small fee of $6.00 for a ‘temporary TWO DAY’ pass to visit: ‘Make Up a Name’ on the other side of the border; but they never come back, and MOST NEVER planned on it!

Ask me about my trip to Mexico.. on a bus.. to AND from .. I'll post more about my observations via my CAMCORDER ..later.. ] ..

I DON’T feel sorry for the illegal alien just because he/she is working for say, $5/hr in the USA, [they're averaging MUCH more than that!] ..because the cost of living averages to be TEN times LESS in Mexico then here! So $5/hr translates to $50/hr for you and I! The majority of illegal aliens are not stupid, but just as GREEDY as their illegal employers! Of course I would ‘pick lettuce’ [etc] for $50/hr.. HERE!

..and NOT all illegals are being paid ‘cash’, and I'm getting tired of hearing they're working for ‘slaves’ wages! What a freaking JOKE! Right now, I'll guarantee you they're ALL working for MORE than $7/hr! At LEAST 50% of illegals are being paid by check. The problem is NOT ONLY are they taking CITIZENS jobs, AND/OR that they are committing fraud, AND/OR identity theft, AND/OR destroying someone else’s credit [and maybe life!], but most are also ‘claiming’ 3-10+ ‘dependants’, thus NOT paying ANY taxes! The illegals that are working for ‘cash’ [and MANY who aren’t], are ALSO claiming ‘poverty’ AND receiving subsidies!


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AND.. For those who haven’t seen this, check out this VERY informative and enlightening 13 minute video from NumbersUSA.com, SOLELY about LEGAL immigration! It's a *MUST SEE* for ALL! [OVER 2.6 MILLION hits, so far.. in google.. ] http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... susa&hl=en

What he DIDN’T talk about, and something VERY important to *Remember*.. is that illegal MIGRATION is 3-4 times this toll!

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..out of all this CHAOS, 25 Americans are KILLED EVERYDAY BY illegals!

12 by MURDER, 13 by Manslaughter.. This equals to 9,125 plus.. PREVENTABLE deaths per year, EVERY year!

That’s THREE TIMES the casualties of the Iraq war in ONE THIRD the time..


OR..


THREE ‘911’ casualties in ONE year, EVERY year!
www.WND.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53103 [One of MANY sources] Remember, these are PREVENTABLE deaths!

*Just a SMALL compilation of those KILLED! : www.ImmigrationsHumanCost.org

..AND..

www.USillegalAliens.com The ‘Dark Side’ of illegal migration ..

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**REALISTIC Presidential candidates: Gentlemen w/integrity!

*Tom Tancredo! www.TeamTancredo.com !
*Duncan Hunter www.GoHunter08.com !
*Ron Paul www.RonPaul2008.com !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NO Democrat presidential candidate can save this nation, despite so-called ‘Republican’ Bush giving the party a stink! [ BOTH parties contribute to La Raza (THE Race), Mecha, LULAC, etc etc etc.. ]. So if you want to contribute, do so to the candidate, NOT the party!

See.. about 70% of Republicans are AGAINST illegal migration ETC, whereas approximately the same percentage of Democrats are FOR that chaos! In the last election, a lot of people THOUGHT that by voting 'democrat', they'd stop this mayhem, but voting all ‘one’ party?!

..And watch out for 'Mafia' Giuliani [amnesty] (whose law firm is the sole representative of Cintra, the Spanish firm with a 50-year contract on the NAFTA Superhighway in Texas), and Barney Fife mouthed Fred Thompson [amnesty] (CFR member), Sen. John Cornyn (who introduced a meld-with-Mexico bill until World Net Daily confronted him; it was withdrawn . . .), Sen. Chris Dodd (who inserted a last-minute provision in the failed immigration bill that a border fence must have Mexico's approval), and, of course, 'Senor' Bill Richardson. [amnesty]

And Romney? ..better than ANY democrat, BUT.. he wants to INCREASE already out-of-control legal immigration! [amnesty] What?! of the 1.2 MILLION visas granted ANNUALLY, 1/2 to 2/3 of those are exploited by the greedy business lobby just so a business can say they’ve hired a ‘legal’ alien, NOT to mention paying them MUCH less thus DEPRESSING our wages even further?!

[.. SEE NumbersUSA's 13min video above ..]

So if you believe that ALL 'legal' foreign workers are here because they do the jobs that 'Americans won't or can't do' ..go watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU&NR=1 "Our goal is clearly NOT to find a qualified and interested US worker" [Larry Lebowitz, VP Marketing and Attorney, Cohen & Grigsby 5-15-07] ..

And McCain?Forget Traitor McCain!! [amnesty] Count that one up to 'Bible Banging', but never read the whole book Huckabee [amnesty!] also..



Oh.. Did I forget to mention to visit:

www.NumbersUSA.com a MUST!

*LOOK at your congressional persons scorecard. How did he/she vote? Are they working FOR or AGAINST this Nation? ..or just plain ignorant?! www.BetterImmigration.org

*..and SEE the Pres candidates scorecards: www.BetterImmigration.com/candidates/2006/prez2008.html a MUST!! Uhh.. We’re talking about our Country’s SOVEREIGNTY here!!!

*DON'T forget the most important page.. PAGE TWO! www.BetterImmigration.com/candidates/20 ... _gop2.html

..then tell ALL your friends and family about the above links, to tell ALL of THEIR friends and family, etc etc etc..

We CAN stop this CHAOS!!

..so just DO it!

Nice day all!
R


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..and DON’T call illegal aliens what the liberal left OBL [open borders lobby] WANT you to call them at best: illegal immigrants.

There's NO such thing as an illegal immigrant!

The ACCURATE term is an ILLEGAL: [size=150][i][b]“ALIEN, MIGRANT or FOREIGN NATIONAL.â€

Go TOM!!!!!