Tancredo dismayed by Senate panel - Congressman lashes out at 'amnesty' plan, says it won't pass in House

Since 03-29-06

Tom Tancredo

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
March 28, 2006
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4575588,00.html

WASHINGTON - Immigration reform legislation is doomed to stall this year if the full U.S. Senate passes the type of guest worker bill that cleared a committee hurdle Monday, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo said.

Tancredo, R-Colo., issued a statement lashing out at the Senate Judiciary Committee after it approved a bipartisan bill that could grant legal work status to millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally.

"No plan with amnesty and a massive increase in foreign workers will pass the House," said Tancredo, who leads the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.

"Amnesty and foreign workers are fundamentally incompatible with the House's approach and, according to every recent poll, they are not what Americans want."

The Senate is poised to begin two weeks of debate and amendments today, and the final version of the bill might look very different from the measure the committee approved Monday.

The bill is based on a plan by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and is co-sponsored by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Denver.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Loveland, has co-sponsored his own version of immigration reform.

But it is Tancredo who has taken his national profile to new heights over the past week.

For example, he appeared Sunday on This Week, a national political talk show, opposite the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

And each day last week, he issued provocative statements, trying to pressure members of the Senate Judiciary Committee - including many fellow Republicans - into rejecting the McCain-Kennedy approach.

Tancredo wants the Senate to follow the House of Representatives' lead and pass legislation focused on strict border control and tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants and the companies that employ them.

On Monday, Allard rejected Tancredo's hard-line approach.

"I think sometimes (Tancredo) is perceived, at least by the public, as trying to keep all the immigrants out," Allard said in an interview. "That's something I don't think we can do."

Like Tancredo, Allard said he opposes any plan that amounts to "amnesty" for people who entered the country illegally.

But Allard said he supports a version of a guest worker plan that would allow undocumented workers to return to their home countries and then apply for temporary work permits to return to the United States.

"We need to provide a legal mechanism from which workers can come in temporarily and work in the United States and then return to their countries," Allard said.

"Right now, a lot of our basic industries exist - particularly in Colorado - because of new immigrants.

"They support the tourism industry, agriculture, construction, not to mention the restaurant industry," Allard said.

Who's who in immigration reform legislation

• U.S. Rep Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., wants legislation focused on strict border control and tougher enforcement.

• Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., possible presidential candidate, is co-author of a bill offering guest worker status.

• Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., longtime advocate of immigration rights and co-author of bill with McCain.

• Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., on the McCain-Kennedy legislation bandwagon as co-sponsor.

• Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Loveland, says he opposes amnesty. Co-sponsoring his own version of guest worker plan.