What Tancredo Will Accept

Date: Monday, November 04, 2002 6:56 PM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

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Tom Tancredo said that he is willing to accept any number of guest workers
as long as they stay for two years and leave. The US has yet to devise a
visa that guarantees that aliens leave and his proposed H-2C is no
different. He even provides for extensions in one year increments
indefinitely. What Tancredo fails to understand is that the number of aliens
that return isn't as important as the number of Americans that lose their
job because of the influx of cheap foreign labor.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5913226&BRD=1947&PAG=461&dept_id=168657&rfi=6

Tancredo says immigrant reform bill will not pass

By:The Aurora Sentinel November 01, 2002

Rep. Tom Tancredo said this week he has no hope of passing his immigrant
reform bill, but he will continue to fight for airtight borders even if he
has to seem extreme doing so.

Tancredo said a military exercise he observed in Idaho in August could serve
as a model for beefing up security. The exercise involved deploying troops
along a 100-mile section of the border with Canada, along with radar and
patrol vehicles, and unmanned airplanes.

He said others estimate about 20,000 troops are needed to supplement the
Border Patrol and U.S. Forest Service along land borders.

Tancredo recently came under fire for his views when he demanded that an
undocumented Mexican honors student seeking financial help in Colorado be
sent home.

Tancredo then announced he would break his pledge to limit himself to three
terms to dedicate his congressional career to fighting for secure borders.

Tancredo also asked authorities to expel any illegal immigrants standing in
line for identification cards at the Mexican consulate in Denver.

Tancredo said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks made it clear that the United
States is not protecting its borders, even though it has the ability to do
so.

``There will be a significant increase in the number of people coming to do
us harm, yet our borders are completely porous and they stay that way, not
because we cannot secure it, but because we won't,'' he said in an interview
with The Associated Press.

Tancredo said Democrats stand in the way of immigration reform because they
see immigrants as a source of votes, Republicans see immigrants as a source
of cheap labor and President Bush, who has feuded with Tancredo over the
issue, sees the issue as a wedge that will divide his party.

``We will never pass the Tancredo guest worker program. It will never
happen. What I will do is be able to influence the bill that does pass. To
me, that's being effective,'' he said.

His bill ultimately would cut total immigration from current levels of about
1 million per year to approximately 300,000 per year.

He said he is willing to accept any number of guest workers as long as they
stay for two years and leave. He said under no circumstances would he accept
an open border with Mexico because the U.S. culture is unique and should be
preserved.

``We were established on ideas. That separates us from almost every other
nation. The sovereignty of this nation is important. We represent something
that I think becomes absolutely indistinguishable without borders,'' he
said.

Tancredo said times have changed since his Italian grandfather, Joseph
Tancredi, was shipped to America at the age of 9 and resisted authorities'
attempts to return him to Italy.

He said it was good public policy at the time because the nation needed
cheap labor.

``Back then, you had only two options, you worked or you starved. You had to
work. To go up the ladder, you had to learn English. Now, you can come here
and not integrate. We encourage you not to integrate,'' he said.

Danielle Short, spokeswoman for Rights for All People, which campaigns for
immigration reform, said undocumented aliens are working and paying taxes
and deserve the same support Tancredo's grandfather received when he came to
America.

She said it hurts the nation to deny an education to students who live in
the United States.

She said people are no longer shamed for not learning English.

``Multiculturalism makes our country a richer place, without them having to
give up a part of themselves,'' she said.

ŠAurora Sentinel 2002

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