Posted on 09/19/2002 3:34:04 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
DENVER (AP) - A congressman who has been demanding tighter immigration controls is defending himself against allegations that illegal immigrants remodeled his basement. Two employees of a contracting company say they and other illegal immigrants from Latin America helped install a home entertainment center and a bedroom in the Littleton home of Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., The Denver Post reported Thursday.
Last month, after the Post wrote about a young illegal immigrant's struggle to pay for college, Tancredo reported the teen and his family to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
On Thursday, Tancredo said that when the remodeling was done last fall, he never asked about the workers' immigration status.
Even if the workers were in the country illegally, "what is my responsibility at this point in time?" Tancredo said in a telephone interview from Washington. "I go to dinner at restaurants and probably have come into contact with people who are here illegally. I do not ask, of course. It is actually illegal and you can be sued."
The contractor, Creative Drywall Designs, and subcontractor Denver Audio Design said all their employees are in the country legally.
The newspaper said it would not identify the workers because they could get in trouble with INS.
Tancredo said enemies he made in lambasting the INS and in seeking strict enforcement of immigration laws are trying to discredit him.
"The fact is that I am a controversial figure," he said. "I have rankled the feathers of people who are immigration support groups and illegal immigrants themselves, so I am not surprised that somebody might make this accusation to embarrass me."
Tancredo called the INS after reading about honor student Jesus Apodaca and his family, illegal immigrants from Mexico who live in Denver. The congressman said INS officials told him they did not have the resources to try to take the family into custody.
Tancredo has pushed for use of troops to guard the borders.
"It is the government's responsibility to enforce our immigration laws, and if the INS were doing its job, no illegal immigrant would be available to violate our labor laws," Tancredo said in the Post.
I am not doubting the others did what they said, I just don't see how I, personally, could do it. It would be a very good idea and we should be able to do so.
The abortion problem will never be solved by passing laws one way or another. Abortion will only be overcome when people begin to place a value on life, and that will only be done through education. Abortion used to be illegal in this country and most people abided by the law, not because of the law but because they believed in the sanctity of life.
I'm also 100% against the legalization of drugs, including marijuana.
The WOD has been so destructive of our bill of rights as to render them useless. That is too high of a price to pay to dissallow people to use cheap or inexpensive drugs. We are a nation of drug addicts. Look at the size of the pharmasutical industry. The government is stuffing drugs into millions of our kids everyday. The only difference between legal drugs and illegal drugs is the source of the drugs. The effects are the same.
I support a very active take-no-crap-from-any-tinpot foreign policy and would strongly back allies like Taiwan and Israel. I also was in support of taking out Milosevic in 1999.
We can have a strong military without having to be the worlds policeman. We have had troops on the border between north and south Korea for 50 years. 38000 Americans, 365 days a year for 50 years. Has it done any good? I would rather have seen the Koreas fight it out without our intervention. Truman only went there to try and give the UN some credibility. Do we really need troops in England, Germany, Bosnia, Japan, etc. Bring them home and keep some of our national treasure here.
I track with conservatives on many of the issues, save for an opposition to term limits (keep folks like Hyde, DeLay, Santorum, Watts, and some of these others in there as long as they want. If they're good, why toss them out?) and a VERY strong disagreement with the Tancredo-Buchanan-Malkin position on some parts of the immigration issue.
Libertarians have no problem with open borders, let them in, but don't provide welfare and other benefits. If they want to come and work, let it happen. If they want to continue to speak spanish, let it happen, but let them provide the teachers to teach their children in spanish. If they want to become citizens, fine, but they must learn the english language.
I support additional Border Patrol agents on the border, but I am of the opinion that the good people (which Tancredo himself has acknowledged exist) ought to be allowed to remain under a very strict protocol (a lot tougher than what GWB would propose).
Libertarians do not need border patrol agents to keep illegals out. Just restrict the benefits to citizens.
You are a libertarian and you don't even know it. Think about it.
That would be a good start and if enough of us did it, at least the contractor would know it was coming - but what if the contractor lies. All we hve done is cover our own trail. The law is going to do nothing and we have no recourse against the contractor. I don't expect them to say, "Why yes, I have illegals working for me." Not to be argumentative, just my take on it. We would have to do that everytime we went out to eat, ate any food, etc., We are all contributing. Just knowing the legality or illegality of the worker really does nothing. Until we refuse to have them work, unless we personally, can ascertain their status or until we are willing to not eat, chicken, beef, pork, many veggies that are produced using them, we are really accomplishing nothing. If we would all boycott one item, beef, pork - chicken being my favorite just because I have seen first hand what a chicken producer's illegals can do, nothing, not a thing will happen. They have to be hurt in the pocketbook. That is all they understand - nothing else.
I agree he should have covered himself by asking. Of course, covering himself is all he would be doing, be he should have done that. We don't know for a fact that he did not. Don't count on the newspaper to give us the facts.
Go back to #17 and read my response.
I could have sworn it was someone 'from a neighboring COUNTRY' illegally attending a high school in America, at taxpayer's expense and wanting taxpayers to absorb even more of the expense of the college education he intended to illegally obtain.
That was my take on the subject.
But you can't have it both ways. If you believe it was wrong for Mr. Tancredo to check on the high schooler, then it would have been just as wrong for him to check on anyone working for him - after all, they may have had honor students among their children - heck, they may have also been honor students. Now I know you are trying to point out some hyprocrisy here - and you have. You have stated that he should have checked as closely on the people who worked for him as he did a high school student. Well, you are suggesting he should have done something you think is wrong in one instance, but not in the other.
By the way, he didn't check on the high schooler, the high schooler put himself on the front page of a large newspaper and whined for more freebies from the American taxpayers. No checking to do.
Oh, I think he could turn this in a positive. I think he should state whether he did or did not ask his original contractor, and if he did or did not ask his contractor about subcontractors - first. Then whatever the answer - he should admit that he, even he, had taken a misstep because the illegals are so prevelant in our workforce and that what he will do in the future is personally check on the status of any and all persons who will be working for him no matter how small the situation. If, in fact, there is a way to do this, he should encourage all Americans to do so. He should, in fact, show that there are some who feel he should have done it, so apparently many people think we should. He should tell us how to go about the checking. He should do it on one of his C-Span speeches, newsletters, every speech he makes anywhere, and post it on his website and ask others to do it.
Turn the tables - if the pro-illegal group want these people to be checked out - he should tell us how to go about it and if it is not possible, he should stand on the floor of the house and demand there be a way. You should not be able to smear someone for not doing something unless there is actually a way do so.
However, public pressure is helpful to changing the attitudes of contractors.
Yes, it is a CYA procedure, which is particularly what I was discussing. However, if enough people did this it would help. IMHO.
Some just don't want to admit how pervasive this problem really is. And some don't want to admit that apparently our own President wants it that way. And some don't want to admit that the Republican party has decided that the American taxpayers is not at all important to their success.
As I said in another post, I think Tancredo should turn this into a positive and suggest strongly that each and every person check out the legal status of anyone who is going to be doing work for them. They should boycott restaurants that hire illegals, should boycott any major industry (such as food production) that is heavy into illegals. He should tell us how it should be done or if there is no way, he should demand that we be given a way.
If that many people think he should have done it, then, by all means, let's get on with it!!!!!!!
Where is produce cheap, as in inexpensive? I don't see it cheap anywhere I go. Also, I don't see milk, chicken, etc., cheap. At the cash register, I mean.
Now believe me you are going to pay for that produce you feel is cheap. It is not cheap.
You are paying with the squandering of our income tax to support these people. This is monies that should be used to build up our military, protect our borders, repair our infrastructure, etc.. Instead, it is getting spent to pay the 'incidentals' of this group of people.>
It is being paid by high property tax used for educating these people and paying for the added law enforcement problems they are causing. No one, no one can deny they are a big part of the drug problem. Whether you think drugs should be illegal or not, much of your money is spent on this.
It is being paid in the escalating insurance premiums because they refuse to carry auto insurance.
It is being paid with the declining education system that simply cannot afford to educate this group, most of them with some kind of special need (language, etc.,), and give the American children a first rate education. I just read, in the state of Texas, 60% of the budget is spent on education. Do you think it costs that much just to educate taxpayer's children? Of course not.
It is being paid by the continual errosion of the American culture and way of life.
No one is mentioning the health problem these people are causing. Not just the cost of their care, birthing of their babies, etc., but in the diseases they are bringing with them.
No, you and I are paying dearly for that produce.
PRND21: Ok
You must not have spotted the question mark at the end of the my comment above. I was asking you a question and you answered "Ok". Want to try again? (Please notice the question mark).
I agree 100%. What I find kind of ironic is that, assuming that some of the contractor's employees were indeed illegal aliens, this situation helps to highlight just how serious a problem we have with illegal immigration in this country. If a U.S. Congressman, who is opposed to illegal immigration, can't even hire a contractor to do work in his home without having to cross paths with illegal aliens, then this problem is more out of control than many people realize. So maybe this will end up backfiring on the pro-illegal immigration cheerleaders and bring the problem of illegal immigration to the forefront. Then maybe we can finally start to get a handle on this massive problem and work toward finding a solution that protects the sovereignty of the United States and the rights of it's citizens.
This is a smear campaign by the Mexican Consul and the Denver Post.
The contractor already came out and denied he used illegal aliens. The contractor, who owns both companied, employees four people and he identified each and they are all US citizens.
This is nothing but a coordinated attack on Tancredo by the Mexican Consul and the Denver Post.
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