Who’s the Voice of the GOP on Immigration?
By Tom Tancredo
Although I’ve been out of office for over two years and ran for governor as an Independent ticket, I am proud to say that pro-amnesty Republicans still choose me as their bête noire of how not pander to Hispanic voters.
The Americano—a bilingual publication run by Newt Gingrich—held its First Annual Hispanic Forum where Gingrich discussed his qualified support for the DREAM Act amnesty and that “we have to find policies that extend to every American, and that includes people who are not yet legal, every American, the opportunity to pursue happiness, the opportunity to have a work ethic, the opportunity to grow more prosperous.”
When conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham asked him point blank why we should be giving amnesty when the voters rejected it in November if he responded, “I don’t think anybody anywhere in America including Colorado where it was a very clear test has won any election advocating the idea you can deport 11 million people.”
Gingrich was referring to Denver mayor John Hickenlooper’s victory over me in the Colorado gubernatorial election. It is true that I opposed amnesty and Hickenlooper supported it.
However, Gingrich neglected to mention is that it was a three way race with two conservative candidates splitting the vote. For complicated reasons, I ran as an Independent and received over three times the votes of the Republican candidate, much more than any political observers predicted. There were no exit polls of Hispanics, but polls prior to the election showed me receiving typical levels of Hispanic support for Republicans.
Furthermore, as Ingraham noted, I do not advocate mass deportations because if we enforce the law, illegals will self-deport.
Earlier this year, the American Action Network/Forum—a group led by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and US Senator Norm Coleman—hosted a “Hispanic Leadership Network” conference in Miami.
One of the speakers was Ruben Navarette, a leading open borders advocate who had just written a column endorsing the sentiment, “Arizona, find yourself another country to be part of.”
According to Navarrette, the Republican Party’s “problem is not the tone. It is the message itself—it is offensive, racist. You’ve got to fix the product.” Referring to comments I made in 2006, he stated, “ Miami is not a Third World country.”
Norm Coleman decided to echo Navarette’s open borders talking points when he told ABC News, “Let me be very clear: It’s not just a tone issue—it’s a substance issue. We have to be very clear in rejecting Tom Tancredo, saying he’s not the voice of the Republican Party, on issues dealing with Hispanics, immigration. What we have to do is simply have a pro-active agenda.”
What is his pro-active agenda? If we consider his record in the Senate, it would be Puerto Rican statehood, blanket amnesty for illegal aliens, and increasing legal immigration.
I have never purported to be the voice of the Republican Party. I believe that Republican voters should be the voice of the party.
And they have made their voice clear.
Take the the two most controversial proposals that immigration control advocates support: closing the anchor baby loophole that grants automatic citizenship to the children of illegal aliens and the Arizona immigration law.
Where do Republican voters stand?
According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 88% Republican voters would like an Arizona-style law in their state while only 10% oppose it. The most recent poll on birthright citizenship 76% of Republican voters want to end automatic birthright citizenship while only 19% support it.
For perspective, consider that 13% of Republicans approve of Barack Obama’s job performance and 18% do not want to repeal Obamacare.
There is no issue where Republicans voters are more unanimous than on taking a hardline against illegal immigration.
Let’s hope that the party leadership listens to the voice of the grassroots.
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