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Interview with Tom Tancredo JW President Tom Fitton: One of the heroes to those of us who have been trying to fight the immigration crisis is Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, who has taken on the White House quite vociferously on this issue. We appreciate his leadership and we are pleased he is joining us today. Tancredo: It is my pleasure, Tom, because I have to tell you, it does seem to me that things are changing. I just came from the Republican Conference in Philadelphia, where there were probably 150 members of the House and maybe 20 or 30 members of the Senate. When they discussed the issue of immigration, the place went ballistic. I have been in Congress five years, and I have been around this issue for probably twenty-five years, and there is something happening. People have taken hold of this issue and made their representatives know how they feel about it. I will tell you, the President's proposal is dead on arrival. Fitton: How would you describe the President's proposal? It seems to me to be a little bit vague. Tancredo: It is purposely vague, I think, because the President will not put it in the form of a bill. He simply stated it in some broad principles. The President says that if you come here and stay illegally for three years with a job, we will give you a three-year visa that you must renew every year. You can renew it for as long as you live and you can renew it until you either lose a job or die. So the idea that all of a sudden every three years everybody is simply going to back to where they came from is certainly, again, ridiculous. They would not. They would simply either renew or overstay it like all the rest of the people do. We have eight million people like that in the country today. And of course we do nothing about it. We do not go looking for them. We do not deport anybody just because their visa has been violated like those who commandeered the airplanes and crashed them into both the Pentagon and World Trade Center. I think the concept of rewarding people for breaking the law is absolutely horrifying. Fitton: What part of Colorado do you represent, Congressman? Tancredo: I represent the Sixth District, which is primarily the southern suburbs of Denver. Fitton: I was out in California this week and as you might imagine this was front and center on the minds of the folks with whom I spoke, but this is not just for California anymore. How is Colorado handling the immigrant influx? Tancredo: Well we are trying to do a number of things. Luckily, because I have been pretty mouthy about this for quite awhile, I have gotten the state's legislators to the point of being willing to take action. This year we got them to introduce and pass a bill to say that you could not use for identification purposes or any state service, any kind of ID that was not given to you by the United States Government or the State of Colorado. Fitton: Congressman Tancredo, I am going to play devil's advocate. No one knows how many illegal immigrants we have in the country. What do we do about the people who are already here? How do we get them out? How do we enforce the law? That would be quite an undertaking, would it not? Tancredo: It would be an undertaking, but it is worth the undertaking because, frankly, a great deal has to be done in order to serve this nation. We have two choices. We can either enforce the law or repeal the law, because constantly ignoring the law is the worst possible choice for a nation that is dedicated to the rule of law. And so let us begin right there. Just enforce the law. If we aggressively go after the folks who are employing these people illegally and fine them, or if they are egregious violators, throw them in jail, I will guarantee there would be a reaction. And the majority of people who are here illegally would, in fact, return to their country of origin. Fitton: In other words, we just need to destroy the market for illegal immigrants. Tancredo: Exactly. And then, of course, you have to simultaneously seal the border. You cannot have the borders continue to be open to people who are going to come into this country illegally. Seal the border which can be done. We have the ability. This nation has the resources. And we are finally building the will to do something. Fitton: As I understand it, you are not against temporary work visas, right? You are just against ones that would legalize people who are illegal. Tancredo: Of course, but you would have to prove to me that there is a need for such a program. We've all heard the mantra of "Illegal immigrants come to the United States to do jobs no American will do." You would have to prove to me that this is true. Fitton: That mantra is patronizing. Anyone whose parents came from modest circumstances probably did jobs that supposedly no one else would do. The idea that somehow that work is beneath anyone is just so offensive to me. Tancredo: In a free country, in a free nation, in a free economy with an unemployment rate of 18 million, which is what we have, there is no such thing as "jobs Americans won't do." Fitton: As president of an organization that fights corruption, Congressman, I am really upset by the failure of our government to enforce its own laws and that, in my opinion, is a form of corruption. Tancredo: What drives me crazy is when those in favor of illegal immigration say the laws are not working. There is nothing wrong with the law. There is nothing wrong with a law that says, "You cannot come into this country without our permission," or "You cannot be hired on a job unless you are here legally." There is nothing wrong with those laws. What they should be saying is that our willingness to enforce the law is broken. Fitton: My guess is that the commission studying the attacks of September 11 is going to avoid this issue like the plague. Tancredo: Oh, absolutely. We were just talking about the 9-11 Commission and the fact that it may be running out of money. Well, I am going to see whether or not that is the case. Then we can try to do something about it and make sure the commission is extended. Fitton: Congressman Tancredo, thank you for joining us and thank you for your work on this issue. Sidebar: Congressman Tom Tancredo is Chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. He has proposed a four-point plan to deal with the nation's illegal immigration crisis: 1. Secure our nation's borders. 2. Establish a genuine guest work program. 3. Improve "Interior enforcement" of immigration laws. 4. Remove incentives for illegal immigration The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that in January of 2000 there were 7 million illegal aliens living in the United States, a number that is growing by half a million a year. Thus, the illegal-alien population in 2003 is at least 8 million. Included in this estimate are approximately 78,000 illegal aliens from countries who are of special concern in the war of terror. At any point in time, there are roughly 5000,000 foreign students studying in America. In recent years, the FBI has warned Congress that state sponsors of terrorism have been funding students to come to the U.S., where most are studying technology-related fields that contribute to foreign weapons programs. In 2001, more than one million immigrants were admitted to the United States. Additionally, about 500,000 entered illegally. This is nearly four times as many immigrants as the United States was receiving only 30 years ago.
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