Thread: Tancredo's slam of Miami irritates Florida Gov. Bush

Tancredo's slam of Miami irritates Florida Gov. Bush

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
November 29, 2006

Rep. Tom Tancredo drew fire from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and others Tuesday after saying the ethnically diverse city of Miami resembled "a Third World country."

Tancredo, R-Littleton, touched off a controversy when he said during a weekend summit of conservative activists at a Palm Beach resort that unfettered immigration, both legal and illegal, was behind problems like high crime rates in Miami.

"You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace," Tancredo said of Miami, according to the Web site WorldNetDaily. "You would never know you're in the United States of America. You would certainly say you're in a Third World country."

The comments, later reported in the Miami Herald, drew scoldings from Florida lawmakers, including fellow Republicans.

On Tuesday night, Gov. Jeb Bush sent a pointed letter to Tancredo, calling his comments "disappointing" and "naïve."

Bush cited contributions by people of all ethnicities, and he pointed to shrinking crime rates and improvements in test scores posted by minority students.

"The bottom line is Miami is a wonderful city filled with diversity and heritage that we choose to celebrate, not insult," Bush wrote.

Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa said the congressman stood behind his comments, saying they echoed what he has said for years about isolated immigrant communities that resist assimilation and cling to their native languages and customs.

Espinosa said that contributes to poverty and crime, and he cited a recent documentary that claimed Miami was more dangerous than Baghdad, Iraq.

"It's as bad as any ghetto in any Third World country," Espinosa said.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican who represents Miami, disputed Tancredo's characterizations and invited him to come down to see her district for himself.

"Tom is a good friend of mine and I hope that he accepts my invitation to see my hometown, a first-class city," Ros-Lehtinen said Tuesday.

Espinosa joked that "unless it includes a five-star resort on the beach, he's not going to consider it."

Espinosa cited a 1993 Time magazine story that called Miami the "Capital of Latin America" and said some areas of the city "resemble the Third World, with the homeless and immigrants living under highways or in matchstick houses along canals."

Crime rates have gone down since then, but Espinosa said that through early November there had been more murders in Miami-Dade County (200) than in all of Colorado in 2005 (173).

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/l ... 41,00.html

The truth hurts. Miami is not and has not been for a long time an American city.

Keep speaking the truth Tom!!!!

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican who represents Miami, disputed Tancredo's characterizations and invited him to come down to see her district for himself.

"Tom is a good friend of mine and I hope that he accepts my invitation to see my hometown, a first-class city," Ros-Lehtinen said Tuesday.

I surely hope that he's not 'such a good friend' of Martinez's buddy Ros-Lehtinen. Especially with her ties to anti-American hispanic groups funded by communist entities.

.

Don't go, Tom.

You were right the first time. Don't expect them to ever admit it.
They are in complete denial.

That doesn't mean the rest of the country has to be.

Jeb Bush can stick it where the sun don't shine if he's irritated.

Tancredo is right. Miami is an absolute s***hole. Been there plenty of times to know. Of course leave it up to a lying sack of Bush to deny everything and claim that all is well. They should rename Miami, little Havannah.

The truth hurts........so we should not speak it? Ignoring reality is part of what has gotten us where we are.

I wish you all could have heard Tom Tancredo on the Schnitt Show discussing his comments about Miami today. It is aired in Miami too.
I was driving so I could not post a link. He did a great job, and Schnitt gave him a big thumbs up for his work and efforts to secure our country.

Go Congressman Tancredo.
Great job.

UH Oh, Tancredo used Free Speech, will Newt Gingrich get him or will Jeb cry to his dictator wannabe brother?

I'll repeat what others have said because it's what I was thinking as I read this article - THE TRUTH HURTS!
Tom Tancredo is one of the few elected officials I respect and trust. He isn't afraid to speak the truth.
We're behind you Tom!