Tom Tancredo definitely knew how to divide, but not how to conquer

For the 10 years he was in the House, Tancredo was dead set on deporting every single undocumented worker and ceasing all forms of immigration all together. One of his most famous examples of how dead-set he was on accomplishing this goal is that he “wanted to deport the family of an undocumented high school boy who was profiled in The Denver Post for his perfect grades.”

What’s interesting is that (as with most of us in America) he is the grandson of immigrants. I still don’t get the logic behind arguing against immigration when you yourself wouldn’t be here if America hadn’t had an open door policy. But anyways, Tancredo was notorious for urging Americans to reject “the siren song of multiculturalism.”

It should be pretty obvious that Tancredo and I are on opposite sides of the spectrum, especially on this issue, but the key takeaway is that when running into the Tancredo’s of the world, look for the good.

While his views of immigration are, well, archaic at best, he does have a few values that most people would be able to agree on. For instance, he sponsored the Sudan Peace Act, which was passed unanimously in the Senate without amendment seven days later, and was signed into law on November 21, 2002.

Need more proof he has a heart? After the Columbine shooting, he gathered resources in order to respond to the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia. He helped orchestrate Colorado students, who made thousands of cards and letters for the Russian children, which he and his wife passed out to the survivors.

If you’re in politics, coalitions, or just interact with people for that matter, it becomes obvious that we can’t always agree on everything. When working with people, especially those that you disagree with on big issues, it’s important to look at the good in them. If Tom Tancredo had focused more on working with people, instead of shutting them out via his harsh views on immigration, he would have had more successful terms in office.