Tancredo Visits Iowa With One Aide and One Issue -- Immigration Reform
By Jay Wagner
Long-shot presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo said during a swing through heavily Republican northwest Iowa this weekend that the $2.5 million in matching funds his campaign will receive will allow him to remain in the race through the Iowa caucuses and continue to force other candidates to talk about immigration reform.
His heavy focus on illegal immigration may make him seem like a one-issue candidate, said Tancredo, a U.S. representative from Colorado. But he said that President Bush has been "derelict in his duty" to stem the flow of illegal immigration. Tancredo said the more he studies the issue, the more it seems that many of the nation's problems can be blamed on Hispanics crossing into the United States from Mexico.
Health care costs? Blame the burden of paying for emergency-room care for 12 million illegal immigrants who receive free medical services, he said.
The nation's rising addiction to methamphetamines? Mexico has become a major source of the illegal drug, he said.
Low wages? If America rids itself of illegal immigrants who take minimum-wage jobs, the country's businesses would be forced to pay decent wages and benefits to attract a work force, he said.
"There aren't many problems that we can't attribute to these lawbreakers who cross our borders to live here," he said.