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Former Congressman Tom Tancredo currently serves as chairman of Rocky Mountain Foundation, co-chairman of the anti-illegal immigration Team America PAC, and honorary chairman of Youth for Western Civilization. He speaks frequently on cable news, talk radio, and on college campuses—where his mere presence has led leftists to riot on multiple occasions. His first book, In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security was published in 2006.
During his ten years representing Colorado’s 6th Congressional District from 1999 until 2009, Congressman Tom Tancredo became universally recognized by both sides of the issue as the most vocal opponent of mass immigration in Washington.
In 1999, Tancredo founded the House Immigration Reform Caucus to advocate for limited and controlled immigration. Starting with a handful of Representatives, the bipartisan Caucus now boasts over 100 members. For many years, Tancredo was the only Republican to vocally oppose President Bush’s immigration policies leading to Karl Rove to call him "a traitor to the president,” and warned him to never "darken the doorstep of the White House” in 2002.
Tancredo never let up, and by Bush’s second term, other conservatives were emboldened to oppose amnesty. Tancredo successfully led the fight in Congress against amnesty in 2006 and 2007.
His strong stance against amnesty made him a bęte noire to the Left. Rolling Stone named him one of America’s 10 worst Congressmen, and liberal columnist Paul Campos gave him the top spot.
Tancredo sought the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States with the intention of forcing the immigration issue into the debate. Although he dropped out of the race prior to the Iowa Caucuses commentators across the spectrum acknowledged that he achieved his objective. A New Yorker cover piece stated, "The emergence of Tancredoism as an ideological touchstone for two Republican front-runners is a stunning development, another indication of the Party’s rejection of nearly everything associated with the approach taken by George W. Bush,” while Newsweek said it was “conventional wisdom” that when Congressman Tancredo dropped out, the "[a]nti-immigrant zealot had already won. Now even Dems dance to his no mas salsa tune."
Although immigration remains his signature issue, Tancredo is a solid fiscal and social conservative, with a lifetime 99% voting rating from the American Conservative Union. In addition to immigration, Tancredo is particularly vocal on the dangers posed by Radical Islam and what he calls “The Cult of Multiculturalism.”
Tancredo has been active in conservative politics for over forty years since his days as a member of the College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Northern Colorado. After teaching junior high school for several years, he was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1977. During his four years as State Representative, Tancredo led a group of conservative legislators who then Democratic Governor Richard Lamm called the “House crazies.”
During the Reagan and H.W. Bush administration, he served as Denver’s Regional Representative to the Department of Education. A dedicated budget cutter, he reduced his office staff from 225 to 60 during his tenure.
After leaving the federal government, he became president of the conservative think tank, The Independence Institute where he remained until his election to Congress in 1998.
The grandson of Italian Immigrants, Tancredo was born and raised in Denver Colorado. He married his wife Jackie in 1977. They have two sons and five grandchildren.
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