TANCREDO FIRES BACK AT SLANTED DENVER POST COVERAGE

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) fires back at his critics at the Denver Post. "Let me get this straight: The Mexican Consulate gives you the names and address of Mexican nationals living here illegally so that you will print a sympathetic story about their inability to access a state-subsidized education for their son. You do so, giving them front-page prominence, including pictures, while knowing full well that their status here places them in jeopardy of being deported. Then when I ask the INS what they are going to do about the situation, you make me out to be the heavy!" Tancredo writes. "Let me suggest a condensed version of the editorial you published on Saturday. It could have simply stated, 'Tom Tancredo was right to do what he did, but damn, he made us mad when he did it.'"

And Post columnist Al Knight says that most of the "remarkably weak arguments" advanced by supporters of illegal immigration about this case are off base. "[Supporters say] Jesus Apodaca is a special case because he was a good student. This comment is nonsensical in that it implies that were Apodaca a poor student, deportation might be appropriate. Obviously the law makes no distinction based on academic ability."