Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., presidential candidate, was in Boone on Monday and offered his stance on immigration, the Iraq war, the Republican Party and stem cell research.

The Dutch Oven Bakery, 605 Story St., was host to a handful of people, with Tancredo supporters lining the sidewalk just outside the front door with shirts reading “I’m a member of Tom’s army against amnesty.”

Tancredo entered silently and introduced himself to everyone in attendance with a handshake and a smile.

His welcome was short, but included quite a few statistics. Tancredo told those in attendance that his campaign had the highest level of small donors of all presidential hopefuls, with 76 percent coming from families supporting him along his campaign trail.

He admitted to not being overly wealthy and thanked everyone numerous times for their support and small donations, then he began his speech.

Tancredo started with his strong stance on immigration reform. A longtime supporter for stopping illegal entrance into the country, Tancredo explained why he believes it negatively affects the country.

He said he believes America should never reward illegal behavior – because by doing so, American people are “handing out citizenship too easily.” Tancredo said he is adamant about keeping citizenship special and wants others to work to be a part of the country.

He said he was supportive of a fence to line the border to stop illegal entrance as well as a strong police force to secure the border.

Tancredo cited a statistic that said in 1995, “86 hospitals closed due to not being able to handle the strain that ill immigrating people caused when they came in for treatment.”

Tancredo said he believes greatly that Americans needs to speak English as one language, because the definition for the word “nation” includes using the same language. He believes that by allowing multiple languages, the country cannot come together as one. He wants all people to be able understand each other, as well as the rules of this country, under one national language.

After these issues, Tancredo began speaking about the current war. Not his dominant campaign issue, he said he would disengage from Iraq – although not completely.

He has an inflexible opinion that the military is unable to continue with their cause.

“We are serving in a capacity that is not good for us,” he said. “The military is not designed to do these things.”

He continued by saying that wars are to be set up for a position of success, not defeat.

“Past wars have been set up like this: We win the war, they lose. This war is not set up this way,” he said.

At that time, Tancredo handed over the discussion to the audience.

An older man started the conversation by asking, “Why does the president want to take the Republican Party over the cliff edge with him?

Tancredo said he has been at odds with President Bush, as well as other Republican political leaders. He did not vote for No Child Left Behind, nor did he vote for the health care plan Bush proposed.

Tancredo was also asked how he would deal with stem cell research.

Tancredo’s response was that he was unquestionably against the process. He believes it has yielded nothing and other technology can be used more sufficiently.

“Stem cell research is nothing more than an attempt to minimize the value of an embryo,” he said.

Tancredo continued the conversation by saying all Supreme Court justices under him as president would be “pro-life” – no exceptions.