Tancredo: Bush Speech Provides ‘Border’ Meat

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), hungry for immigration reform, listened intently Monday to President Bush’s speech about dealing with border issues. At the end, the Republican congressman was less hungry, but still unsatisfied.

"President Bush gave us some meat, which is good, but he slipped it between two very stale, old pieces of bread – guest worker and amnesty programs,” Tancredo said.

President Bush promised to protect the U.S.-Mexico border, and called for the use of high-tech gadgets – and even an improved border wall – to help battle the problem of illegals streaming into the U.S.

There are an estimated 11 million illegal aliens living in the United States, many of whom came to the United States via Mexico.

Tancredo said, however, that the president’s insistence on a guest worker program – even in the face of tougher border controls – isn’t enough.

"If you tell people who are here illegally that they are not subject to deportation, that is amnesty,” Tancredo said. "That’s the end of it.”

Tancredo hopes the Bush Administration will help craft a much tougher enforcement policy that will keep the majority of illegals out of the country.

"Can you stop every single human being from coming into the country illegally? No,” Tancredo told Fox News Channel. "Can you stop 95 percent of them? Yes – build a better fence, use unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance, etc.

"There are a number of ways to prevent illegals from crossing our border," Tancredo said. "We just need to get tough.”

x-posted to tancredo_2008