Tom Tancredo: Paul Ryan Has Enabled Illegal Immigration ‘Since The Day He Walked Into Congress’

Kenosha, WI – Former Congressman Tom Tancredo called on House Speaker Paul Ryan to “stand up” and “tell people the truth” about his longstanding support of the donor class’ open borders agenda.

Tancredo explained that Paul Ryan is a “poster boy” for the Chamber of Commerce and supports the Chambers’ desire for cheap foreign labor regardless of how it “hurts [his] own constituents.”

“I’ve know Paul Ryan since the day he walked into Congress,” Tancredo told reporters on Wednesday. “And I assure you… he has never, ever, ever been supportive of any of the attempts that have been made to secure our borders, or to do anything substantial about the issue of illegal immigration into the country.”

Tancredo—who was one of Congress’ most vocal advocates for securing the border and stopping illegal immigration—has endorsed businessman Paul Nehlen in his insurgent campaign against Speaker Ryan in Wisconsin’s August 9 primary election.

At a Wednesday press conference held at Nehlen’s headquarters in Kenosha, Tancredo, Tancredo urged Ryan to “tell your constituents who you are”:

Stand up in front of your constituents and say: ‘Look, I’m an open borders guy. The Chamber [of Commerce] believes in it, the Chamber wants cheap labor, [and] I respond to what the Chamber wants. I always have. I’m an establishment guy.’ Tell your constituents who you are. I think that’s the really responsible and respectable thing to do. [Tell voters] ‘I’m for TPP even though, yeah, most of my constituents are going to get hurt by it, but the Chamber wants that.’ Stand up, Paul, and say that. Because that’s the truth, and you have a responsibility to tell people the truth.

Tancredo informed reporters that he came to Wisconsin in order to “throw the B.S. flag” on Ryan’s recent campaign efforts to misrepresent his record on immigration. Tancredo continued:

When I hear [Ryan] say things about, ‘I’m dedicated about doing something about this border, I’m meeting with people to see how we can strengthen the border.’ I know, I’ve known him for a long time, I have served with him for a long time, that’s simply untrue. And so I am here to throw the B.S. flag on it. It’s not true… People are so cynical about Congress… and about politicians. And this is one reason why. Because you can have a guy, who has dedicated his entire life essentially to one set of policies and ideas and principles, and then comes home and says just the opposite.

Tancredo said that Congress has not been able to advance immigration reforms that protect American workers because of this “unholy alliance” between Democrats and Chamber of Commerce Republicans like Paul Ryan.

There were two problems when I was in Congress trying to deal with this issue… The first problem was the Democrat Party that saw massive immigration— both legal and illegal—as essentially a source of voter pool replenishment. The second problem, just as powerful an enemy by the way, was the Republican Party that saw massive immigration—both legal and illegal—as a source of cheap labor. And that philosophy was represented by the Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Tancredo explained that the problem stems from “people in the [Republican] Party like Paul Ryan, who are poster boys for the Chamber of Commerce and [who are] for this idea that: ‘We are going to supply cheap labor and I don’t care how it hurts my own constituents.’ […] How can we ignore [Ryan’s] support for things like TPP, which is another thing that decimates the job opportunities for millions… [But Ryan thinks] that’s okay, that’s okay because that’s what the Chamber wants. It doesn’t matter that his own constituents don’t want it because that’s what the Chamber wants. And that has been the biggest problem we have ever faced.”

Immigration “is a huge issue that affects every state,” Tancredo went on to say. “It’s not just ‘border states’… it’s every state in the nation. It is the nation itself, of course, that is affected by massive immigration. Both legal and illegal of low-skilled, low-wage workers.” Immigration is an “issue of jobs… [and] depressed wage rates.”

Tancredo explained Wisconsin’s August 9 primary is a “a David and Goliath situation. I understand that.” … “But you know, it’s one of those things that someone has got to say it. Someone has got to tell the truth here. I have absolutely no other reason to be here except… I want truth to win out in this campaign and if it does, if we get that message across, Mr. Nehlen will win.”