In a strange way, I was almost sorry to see Rep. Tom Tancredo drop out of the race for president last week. The immigrant-bashing Colorado Republican had proved to be such an extremist that he was hurting his own cause.

Even other immigrant bashers refused to go as far as Tancredo, who came out against multilingualism and even legal immigration. He had become the caricature of the ugly American. And through him, other Americans were beginning to see just how intolerant and mean-spirited the anti-immigrant movement can be.

While mobilizing some Americans to seek stricter immigration enforcement and coercing other Republican candidates to toughen their stances on immigration, Tancredo's extremism also served to expose how political ambition can turn some politicians into inhumane and un-American creatures.

Count them: One down and several other immigrant bashers left to go.

As they drop out of the presidential race, lacking voter support, watch them: It will be the candidates who used illegal immigrants as guinea pigs who will suffer surprising defeats in the primaries.

I say surprising only in light of the anti-immigrant climate that has been sweeping the nation. But in fact, we should not be surprised that the ultimate basher, Tancredo, didn't even make it to the primaries.

This is still a nation of immigrants. We have a proud tradition of compassion for the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Americans still recognize that most immigrants — even those who came here illegally — have been assets to this country. They do the jobs Americans don't want, and they keep our economy afloat.

Most Americans also recognize that even if the borders are secured, unless we have a plan for legalizing everyone who lives here, we still will have an illegal immigration problem. Expecting illegal immigrants to self-deport to countries where they have an even darker future is unrealistic — absurd!

That's why, in spite of the fear-mongering rhetoric we've heard from Tancredo and other Republican presidential candidates, 60 percent of Americans still favor a legalization plan for illegal immigrants, according to a recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

And that's why those candidates who follow in Tancredo's footsteps will end up where he is, out of contention. Americans don't want a ruthless xenophobe for president.

Nevertheless, several Republicans seeking residency in the White House are apparently under the impression that immigrant bashing can be turned into votes in 2008. This is contrary to many other times in recent history when politicians have sought to stand above all others by trampling on the backs of immigrants, only to end up trampled by voters.

They may not realize it now — not while they desperately are seeking the support of conservative extremists — but for these candidates, playing the anti-immigrant card will be costly, especially in states where Latino voters can swing the outcome of an election.

When I had the opportunity to debate Tancredo, more than two months ago on CNN, the congressman proved that his problem is not only with illegal immigrants but with anyone who speaks a foreign language, especially Latinos.

"We are becoming a bilingual nation, and nobody is doing anything to try to stop it," Tancredo complained. "I agree that that is not a good idea."

He said everyone in this country should speak "English only, all the time." I told him that because Colorado is a Spanish word, we would have to change the name of his state. "We would have to call it Red," I said.

I told him that all over the world, people are eager to speak several languages, that we should not feel threatened by knowledge. I told him that most immigrants recognize that they must learn English, that many English as a second language courses across the country have waiting lists and that if he were really so concerned about immigrants learning English, he would introduce legislation to provide funds for more courses.

Not surprisingly, he said he was against funding more English courses.

"Amazing, isn't it, that this country was able to actually get established and get to this point and time without ESL, and all those millions of people who came here who couldn't speak English somehow found a way to do it," Tancredo said. "I'm all for people trying to find a way to speak English. Don't get me wrong. But I'm telling you, it's not as if there isn't enough resources. There isn't enough will or desire to speak the language. That's the problem."

And that's the argument that Tancredo and other immigrant-bashing Republicans want to continue to make. They can't afford to have everyone learn English or become legal residents because — God forbid — they would run out of reasons to complain.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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