Editor's note: Tom Tancredo dropped out of the Republican primary on Dec. 20.

For presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., his trademark support for tough immigration policies has nothing to do with race or ethnicity -- it's an issue, he says, that has everything to do with defining what being an American "actually means today."

During his long-shot campaign for president, his myopic focus on the immigration issue has both helped influence the debate among Republicans and provoked charges of xenophobia and racism from some of his opponents.

But the congressman, who has been a long-time crusader to curb the flow of illegal immigrants, is adamant that current U.S. immigration trends pose a real danger to the future of the nation. Unlike earlier waves of immigration to the U.S. from Ireland, Italy or Russia,  he argues that new immigrants, primarily from Latin America, have adopted a culture that encourages separatism and that this threatens America. He has made this cultural and social issue the cornerstone of his campaign, hoping to further the debate.

"Because we have so many differences among us, because we come from so many different places, so many different backgrounds, cultures, attitudes, ideas, religions, we need something to hold us together," Tancredo told the Online NewsHour in an interview. " When you come to the United States, there's got to be some common set of ideas, ideals maybe, that you attach yourself to, and that, in of itself, separates you from the past."

Another factor that makes this most recent immigration trend different historically, according to the congressman, is that there has been no drop-off. U.S. immigration peaked in the early 1900s but it then declined in the 1920s and 1930s.

"American immigration patterns have been very cyclical. There's time for a timeout. We need to assimilate people who are here. It's harder to do when the numbers are so great of people coming in," Tancredo said, pointing out that immigration rates have only increased since President Bush took office in 2001.

Tancredo, who has represented Colorado's 6th District since 1998, has spent considerable time campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, giving speeches at GOP events and courting activists at smaller venues. His strategy this fall has centered largely on challenging Republican frontrunners like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on immigration.

Part of the impetus behind Tancredo's calls for tougher enforcement of illegal immigration and even a freeze on legal immigration reflects his concern that immigrants are not assimilating into American culture as they have in past generations. Technology, Tancredo argues, contributes to a lack of assimilation, allowing new immigrants to keep in constant contact with people back home, making it more difficult for newcomers to separate themselves from their homelands.

B eyond technology, Tancredo says another major factor is that immigrants do not learn English as quickly they once did. There is a precedent in American history for immigrants to settle in communities where they speak a common language, Tancredo acknowledges , noting that his Italian ancestors did the same thing -- but he contends the consequences today are different.

"That's all natural, normal, it's happened throughout our country's history. But then there was a certain time -- there was a breakout, if you will -- where people moved out into greater American society and did so through language," Tancredo said.

In December, Tancredo sidelined himself by boycotting a Republican debate sponsored by Univision, a Spanish-language channel, because the debate was translated into Spanish.

"It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write and speak the language," Tancredo said in a Dec. 7 news release. "So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish-speaking debate? Pandering comes to mind."

A s the GOP's lead pack bypassed second-tier candidates in the polls, Tancredo ha s tried to keep the front-runners on their toes on immigration issues and he has carved out his place in the field for his tough immigration stance. In a November debate, after listening to Romney and Giuliani argue about their immigration policies, Tancredo said it was wonderful to hear them trying to "out-Tancredo Tancredo."

Even though Tancredo has struggled to gain support since announcing his candidacy in April, his goal of immigration reform has been a hot-button topic on Capitol Hill and an issue of growing importance among many voters. Congress tried to pass immigration legislation earlier this year, but it stalled after support for a Senate bill collapsed. Tancredo was a vocal player in defeating the bill -- including his vow to ensure the defeat of any Republican senator who voted for the measure.

And Tancredo's threat is not an idle one to politicians within the GOP. Many Republican voters have identified immigration as a crucial issue this election, especially in Iowa where the nomination race kicks off with the state's Jan. 3 caucus. In a University of Iowa Hawkeye poll released Oct. 29, 13.4 percent of Republican caucus-goers named immigration as their most important issue, 52.5 percent said it was very important and 29.2 percent said it was somewhat important. In contrast, just 2.4 percent of Democratic caucus-goers said immigration was their most important issue.

Tancredo viewed the Senate immigration bill's death last June as a legislative victory. The bill would have paired tougher border-enforcement measures with more controversial temporary-worker permits provisions and ways for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to gain citizenship. But Tancredo wanted a bill that focused strictly on border security, so he led a conservative effort that kept the legislation from passing.

"The greatest thing about the whole deal was that the American people were able to see their interest, their voice, was actually heard," Tancredo said.

After the collapse of the immigration bill, Tancredo wasted little time in pushing for new enforcement measures. At a July news conference, he unveiled OVERDUE, which stands for the Optimizing Visa Entry Rules and Demanding Uniformed Enforcement bill. Tenets of the proposal include limiting birthright citizenship to children who have at least one parent who is already a legal resident or citizen, prohibiting states from granting in-state tuition status to illegal immigrants, making voting in a foreign election a basis for losing citizenship and tightening the employment-based green card system.

Tancredo remains one of the loudest voices in Congress against recurring legislative efforts to expand benefits provided to illegal immigrants such as the DREAM Act, which would have provided educational benefits and legal status to the children of illegal immigrants who want to attend college or join the military.

Despite his laser-like focus on immigration, he shrugs off critics who call him a single-issue candidate. While immigration reform resonates on the campaign trail, he says his campaign encompasses how illegal immigration affects health care, the environment and education. According to Tancredo, illegal immigration is "too big" to simply peg as one issue.

But Tancredo's tactics and language have angered many immigration advocates. Joe Garcia, director of the Hispanic Strategy Center at the New Democratic Network, is a vocal critic of Tancredo's platform. He describes the candidate's rhetoric as "toxic" and designed to "diminish and degrade" a relatively powerless population.

Garcia said that while he understands Americans are nervous about immigration, allowing voices such as Tancredo's to lead the debate won't generate productive solutions. He added, however, that the lawmaker's impact on the presidential race is undeniable.

"Yes, he's been effective, in the same way Joe Lieberman in 2004 pulled the Democrats towards the war. Tom Tancredo has, in effect, pulled people towards his fringe position on immigration," Garcia said.
 
Tancredo says his detractors turn to accusations of racism "when they have run out of any intellectual argument on the issue." He said his goal is to reduce differences between groups of Americans.

"What I'd like to see is a country of black and brown and white and every hue in between who are connected simply by an idea, maybe, and a language, as I say. It's got nothing to do with race, it's got nothing to do with ethnicity. It has got everything to do with being an American and what that really, actually means today."

-- By Annie Shuppy, Online NewsHour