Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo pays visit Marshalltown

By KEN BLACK
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., visits with local residents in Marshalltown Sunday during a campaign stop in Marshalltown. Tancredo said that all immigrants in the country illegally should go home and apply to come to the country through legal means.
With anywhere from 12 million to 20 million immigrants in the country illegally, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said there is only one option for them.

“They need to go home,” the Republican presidential hopeful said during a campaign stop in Marshalltown Sunday.

While Tancredo notes he is not against immigration, he said there was a proper way and a wrong way for people to go about it. The congressman and presidential candidate notes that it is a problem for those coming in the country illegally, but said part of the blame rests squarely with the federal government.

“It’s hard for some to accept but it’s the law,” he said. “You can either ignore the law. That’s one way to do it. Or you can enforce it.”

While many in the packed presidential field are willing to offer some concessions for those already in the United States, Tancredo has made headlines by taking a harder stance. His strategy would be to punish employers for their role in the hiring of illegal workers, making it less advantageous and more risky through tougher penalties.

“You don’t have to round up people,” he said. “You have to go after employers. If the jobs are not there, they’ll go home.”

Tancredo was asked if jobs suddenly drying up for people might not force them into other, more illegal, forms of work, such as dealing drugs and other items on a black market. He acknowledged that may also be a possibility.

“Some may take that route and those people you have to deport,” he said.

On Iraq, Tancredo said the United States must not pull out completely, but rather should start to disengage, leaving the Iraqis in charge of security.

“We cannot leave the area,” he said. “We recognize that a precipitous withdrawal means chaos.”

More dangerous than leaving, Tancredo said, is having 535 members of Congress individually determine what the disposition of the war should be.

In terms of energy policy, Tancredo supports the exploration of renewable and other forms of energy, including ethanol, biodiesel, wind and nuclear.

“It’s more than just an economic issue; it’s a national security issue,” he said.

Normally, Tancredo said he is a person that would like to allow the free market to work and prefers government not get involved in such processes. However, the presidential hopeful said when it came to oil, there was no free market ñ that OPEC artificially controlled the price of oil by production cuts and increases.

Therefore, he said the government does have a role in encouraging, and perhaps even funding, other energy sources.

Tancredo also said he is watching the polls, which show him with some work to do before the Iowa Caucuses in January.

“It is certainly not surprising I’m not in the top tier,” he said. “I just got in the race three or four weeks ago.”

However, he said he believes the numbers will come up, because events like Iowa and New Hampshire provide the chance for the lesser-known candidates to gather momentum. Tancredo certainly feels he has the best credentials in the field.

When asked why he got into the race, he responded, “The rest of the field. That’s about it.”

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