PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Providence College has blocked a campus speech by former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo, a vocal opponent of illegal immigration.
The Roman Catholic college said in a statement Monday that the student group that planned to host Tancredo, a conservative Republican who ran for president rather than seek a sixth term in Congress, was not officially sanctioned.
It also said Tancredo’s stance on illegal immigration “directly contrasts” with Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, a member of the college’s Board of Trustees.
Tobin called on federal immigration authorities last summer to halt mass raids and to grant conscientious objector status to agents who refuse to participate in such raids.
Terry Gorman, founder of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement, said the student group—Youth for Western Civilization—contacted him after its bid to host Tancredo was denied.
The organization will host Tancredo on Wednesday at the Pawtucket VFW building where it normally meets. Gorman said Tancredo would speak that same day at the gates of the college.
“They called me and asked if there was a way that I could provide a forum for him to speak,” Gorman said.
Tancredo briefly sought the Republican nomination for president but dropped his poorly funded campaign in December 2007. His speech earlier this month at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was interrupted by a student protest.
Tancredo was elected to Congress in 1998 and was known for his strident views on illegal immigration. He proposed an unsuccessful bill that included limiting citizenship to children born to at least one parent who was also a U.S. citizen or lawful resident. And he once referred to Miami as a “third-world country.”
Gorman said the college was being hypocritical because it has hosted politicians, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., with pro-choice views. But college spokeswoman Patricia Vieira said those speakers were brought to campus to speak on topics other than abortion.
Tancredo’s speech was to have focused on illegal immigration.
“If a similar request to host a speaker on this topic is made in a future semester, the College will encourage and facilitate a format that allows for multiple points of view to be expressed,” the school said in a statement.
