Tancredo calls illegal immigration threat to U.S.

gjsentinel ^ | 08.16.03 | GARY HARMON

[VU4G10]

Illegal immigration into the United States threatens the future of the nation, a Colorado congressman told Mesa County Republicans on Friday.

 U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Centennial, drew two standing ovations from about 100 Republicans, even though he acknowledged his stand on illegal immigration runs counter to that of the party's leader, President Bush.

 Forcing a national debate over illegal immigration transcends party loyalty though, he said. At issue, he said, isn't so much whether the United States will have a Balkanized future, but whether it will have a future as a nation at all.

 Illegal immigration combined with "the cult of multiculturalism" and the welfare state threaten to undermine and bankrupt American institutions, he said.

 Tancredo joked that he actually was on his way to California to get in on the governor's race. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Sentinel, however, he said the stakes actually are a bit higher than a governor's race.

 He has visited California on several occasions with the hope of forcing illegal immigration to a top-level issue in the 2004 presidential race.

 One vehicle, he said, might be a referendum in the nation's most populous state that would limit access to any government services to citizens or legal residents only.

 "Even if I'm 180 degrees wrong," he said, "the subject at least deserves a debate."

 Tancredo said he advocates securing the nation's southern border using a 20,000-strong Border Patrol combined with high-tech equipment to prevent illegal border crossings.

 A guest-worker program might be in order for industries that couldn't otherwise find employees, but no such program could work without a secure border, he said.

 It's particularly important to secure the border, he said, because it isn't used only by Mexicans seeking employment.

 "Huge numbers" of Middle-Easterners frequently cross the border, often helped by Mexican drug gangs who charge $30,000 for the use of their expertise, he said.

 "I don't blame them," he said of illegal immigrants looking north for opportunity, but he noted the Mexican government relies heavily on money sent by illegal immigrants to their relatives to bolster the economy.

 That amounts to about $10 billion a year, a third of the Mexican gross domestic product, he said.

 Tancredo urged the Mesa County Republicans to insist that all candidates be held to account on illegal-immigration issues.

 Even if offices such as city council or county commissioner seem to have little to do with illegal immigration, candidates still should be forced to take a position.

 "Get them on record," he said.

[Militiaman7]

Tom Tancredo/Virgil Goode

What a ticket!

[ArneFufkin]

How nice to hear from a conservative!!!!!!

Conservatives design and execute action plans to create solutions.

What's your plan to address the immigration challenge?

[tubavil]

Employing someone at 50K costs an employer about 100K. Given that and your extras, assume 2.5 billion dollars.

With 280 million people, guessing 7 of 10 pay taxes, that makes this national security outlay about $12.75 a head.

I'd say our national security is worth a movie for two once a year.

[ArneFufkin]

I'm willing to ante up.

I'm not a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives, however. I can't introduce a bill, win a funding process or rally 218 aye votes.

Wonder who could? Hmmmm ....

[tubavil]

What's your plan to address the immigration challenge?

I would happily pay 20-40% more for items traditionally associated with illegal alien labor. I would also pay 100% more for gas and oil if that's what it takes to keep petro dollars from financing terrorist nations like saudi arabia.

We will also recoup hundreds of millions of dollars once we no longer subsidize the housing, medicine, and education of millions of illegal aliens.

[Tancredo Fan]

Careful..... don't feed the trolls.

[ArneFufkin]

I would happily pay 20-40% more for items traditionally associated with illegal alien labor

Over at Cub Foods, our grocery warehouse chain, there are 10 guys stocking shelves, scrubbing floors, sweeping the lot, moving pallets and unloading trucks. They're all Mexican Americans. It's 11:30 on a Saturday night. Over at the local mall, there are 5 or 6 guys scrubbing floors, cleaning johns, emptying trash, sweeping the lot, fixing lights and doing all the maintenance work. All of them are Mexicans. The guys slinging chow in the kitchen at restaurants and bars still serving at this hour are likely Mexicans. At 6 am tomorrow and Sunday, Mexican roofers, landscapers, blacktop pavers, nail pounders, painters, drywall jockeys and fast food servers will be starting their 12 hour OT shifts. Most of them will be Mexicans.

So, what products are you going to pay a 40% premium for again?

[=Intervention=]

More FUD from Tancredo haters. ~yawn~

[ArneFufkin]

I'm no troll, I'm gauging the level of your serious contemplation of this issue.

OK, we've got, say 8 million illegal aliens resident in this country today, this minute. We have 5 to 6 thousand miles of rugged border with Mexico and Canada. We'll never physically prohibit motivated, creative people from sneaking into this country for economic flourish.

So, Tancredo Fan, you've been flapping your gums for 17 months about this challenge. What's your solution, step by step? Specifically. Tell me about the illegal Russians in Brighton Beach, the Jamaicans in Brooklyn, the Greeks in Chicago and the Somali in Minneapolis. They've snuck in too.

If you don't have a plan of political and litigation action by now, you're the troll on this forum, and you're here just to foment xenophobic ugliness and racial animus.

[Captainpaintball]

So ... what specifically has Tancredo done as a legislator during this two year period sounding the alarm during his countless appearances on radio and TV?

http://www.house.gov/tancredo/legislation.htm

http://www.carryingcapacity.org/tancredo.html

http://www.fairus.org/html/07465108.htm

Here's a couple things.

[=Intervention=]

Legislation sponsored by Tancredo...

http://www.house.gov/tancredo/newsroom/press/2003/2003_05_22conf.htm

H.R.946 : To effect a moratorium on immigration.
H.R.2688 : To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to repeal authorities relating to H1-B visas for temporary workers.
. H.AMDT.188 to H.R.2555 An amendment that none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to provide assistance to any State or local government entity or official that restricts any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Department of Homeland Security information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status, as prohibited under section 642(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 19.

H.AMDT.190 to H.R.2555 Amendment sought to prohibit any funding to States or localities that restrict information to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status as prohibited under section 642(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

H.AMDT.293 to H.R.2799 An amendment to prohibit the use of funds from being available to assist any State or local government entity or official that prohibits or restricts any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of an individual.

And these are the ones he's sponsored. I didn't include the ones he has cosponsored or voted on. Add those in and the record gets better still. Now I don't know how much effort is placed into drafting a resolution and getting it through committee. Is is better to create a few and then hype them, or to send resolution after resolution to committee. I dunno. However, it is clear that Tancredo is the point man for immigration reform and one of it's loudest champions. To say the man has done nothing is willful blindness.

[dagnabbit]

So what specifically has Jorge "applauds diversity" Bush done to combat illegal immigration (other than extending Clinton amnesties, trying to ram his own amenesties down our throats, and endorsing illegal alien "matricula" ID cards)?

[Mr. Mojo]

Bill O'Reilly has brought this topic up on his show several times.

O'Reilly is many things, most of them annoying. But when he gets on a crusade for an actual conservative cause (as opposed to his leftist crusade against SUVs), he can be the best in the biz. I hope he never lets up on this issue.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

But we should at least force Republican candidates to tell us where they stand on the issue.

I already have. To a man they schmoozed. The bottom line is, they're all for it. We have a government by business, not of, by and for the people. That's why we're stuck constantly fighting the politicians to prevent giving them amnesty and any legit status. It's bad enough we have to subsidize the cheap labor businesses get away with, but to have our politicians sell us out wholesale is more than I can stand.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

We need to change the citizenship law to reduce the incentive for this behavior.

We need to get a law passed with MANDATORY jailtime for any EMPLOYER who hires them. That's all we need to do. Cut off the job supply and watch the invasion disappear.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Brought numerous bills before the floor...none of which passed. He does more than talk a good game, unlike most of the $%$%#$@^%s.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"If you don't have a plan of political and litigation action by now, you're the troll on this forum, and you're here just to foment xenophobic ugliness and racial animus."

Arne don't be silly, TF is no animus.

[ArneFufkin]

He's got NO cosponsors. These bills are garbage. They are DOA. The guy is a self promoting charlatan.

You guys are rolling logs here. Immigration IS a vitally critical challenge to our safety and economic security.

The only priority should be crafting a political strategy to get the ruling class off their asses and about their duty to protect our interests.

20,000 border guards? How do we locate, identify, process and determine disposition of the 8 million folks traipsing around without sanction today?

Tancredo isn't offering solutions, he's demogauging the challenge and cynically tasking the President to magically fix it. That's not in the President's authority. It's immigration law, it's court rulings on residency, it's state level entitlements and provision of legitimizing status such as drivers licenses and county ID cards. It's a county by county, state by state, court by court and person by person and federal immigration and naturalization law, regulatory rules and policy implementation.

Do YOU know what your county's policy is on approving newly arrived, non-resident aliens for social services and entitlements? By what authority or guidelines do they grant qualified enrollment? What are the served populations, what are the costs to taxpayers, what public debate was provided when developing policies etc. If you don't know the specifics of illegal immigrant entitlements and vetting in your county, you're not serious about this issue.

[Nachum]

Hey, whatever happened to "If it bleeds, it leads!".

[Luis Gonzalez]

I think rumor has it that I may be you, or you may be me, or something like that.

I've lost track.