WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain is a “bozo” for supporting amnesty for illegal aliens, and rising GOP star Sen. Marco Rubio is doing it because he’s maneuvering for a possible presidential candidacy, charges a former Republican Colorado congressman who for years was the chief advocate in Congress for border security.
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, author of “In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America’s Border and Security”, spoke to WND on the recent Senate and White House proposals for amnesty.
From the Senate came a “compromise” proposal by a “Gang of Eight” Republicans and Democrats. It would include a “pathway to citizenship” for illegal aliens and aligns closely with Barack Obama’s strategy.
“This is not a compromise; this is suicide for the Republican Party,” Tancredo told WND.
He cited two of the GOP supporters, Rubio, R-Fla., and McCain, R-Ariz.
“I think they’re naïve,” he said. “Marco Rubio is doing it because he believes it will help him with a presidential election eventually.”
Get Tom Tancredo’s diagnosis of the problem and prescription in “In Mortal Danger”
Tancredo had further strong words about McCain.
“I know the guy, he’s a bozo! The guy has no common sense … all he has to do is look to the guys next to him (at the press conference, Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Robert Menendez) to realize this does not benefit the Republican Party,” Tancredo said.
“There is a lot of déjà vu here,” he said, because the proposal is “almost exactly the same” as the 2007 McCain-Kennedy plan, which focused on legitimizing the illegal aliens already in the U.S.
“This is being sold to Republicans as a way of gaining support amongst Hispanics in this country, and we have to do this in order to accomplish that,” he said. “Does anybody in their right mind believe that Sens. Schumer and Menendez would be pushing this bill if they thought for a millisecond that it is going to [benefit] the Republicans?”
Tancredo elaborated that “if the Democrats thought that all of these folks would vote for Republicans, we would not have this push for amnesty, and we would not have a push for open borders.”
He said individual members of Congress may find approval in their constituencies for the move, “but for the party, it is a farce.”
See McCain on immigration reform:
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House Speaker John Boehner will always be there” to compromise, he said, and “will do nothing” to put up a significant fight against amnesty.
In his book, Tancredo recounts that many Americans were shocked by the rhetoric and demands of supporters of open borders in the spring of 2006.
At that time, millions of protesters marched in dozens of cities demanding a blanket amnesty for illegal aliens under the banner of “immigrant rights.” The protesters insisted that rights now afforded legal immigrants should be granted to those here illegally. Anything short of that was condemned as “racist.”
Americans are divided, confused and angry, he wrote, and unless the U.S. regains control of its borders and renews itsdedication to family and community, catastrophe is coming.
He said the status quo actually serves both Democrats and Republicans.
“The uncontrolled border and liberal immigration policy serves Democrats’ political interests. That same phenomena serves the Chamber of Commerce Republicans, for they get the cheap labor they desperately want,” he said.
He predicts Republicans in the House will “cave,” but urges them, in both chambers, to stand firm on principle and resist any amnesty plan, providing a rallying point for conservatives.
Tancredo said Republicans have been misled by the left wing of the party into believing that if they pass the compromise plan, Hispanics will begin to vote for Republicans.
“They are completely wrong about that,” he said.
“Hispanics vote for Democrats for the same reason other people vote for Democrats. They want bigger government, they want nationalized health care, they want more government security over their lives.”
He noted the irony of immigrants voting for the same things that drove them out of their country of origin.
He believes Hispanics, in general, no longer share conservative social values. Due to “50 years of mass immigration and 50 years of propagandizing in the public schools,” he said, they endorse “gay” marriage and want state care.
He urged the GOP to focus on its principle of limited government.
“If we can’t make the case that smaller government leads to greater individual freedom and prosperity … then we have two parties with one philosophy,” he said.
The “Gang of Eight” proposal, he insisted, “will not strengthen our borders, because all we have done is add fuel to the fire for open borders.”
“We will never pass mandated e-Verify, the population will increase astronomically,” he said. ” … It will be the Democrats’ greatest dream come true to enshrine their power for years and years and years.”
He also worries about racial battles.
“Obama claimed to be the post-racial president, and we are now divided more on race than we ever have been before,” he said.
He said the problem is something for all Americans to address.
“Everybody has to do what they can,” Tancredo said. “Look at your text books. Challenge your teachers, support vouchers and school choice in every way you can.”
“You do everything you can do and then put it in God’s hands.”
