Tom Tancredo debated a “Mexican”

Tuesday night, Tancredo took the stage at Su Teatro on Santa Fe for a lively discussion with Gustavo Arellano, better known as the author of a syndicated column called "Ask a Mexican" that runs in Westword, which sponsored the debate.
Billed as a debate on illegal immigration, Tancredo's signature issue, the conversation quickly turned to focus on the larger issue of cultural assimilation.

More than 300 people attended the debate, while more than 500 watched a live stream of it online.

The debate was the idea of Patty Calhoun, editor of the weekly's sister paper Westword.

"I've never seen a public-policy problem that could ever be solved unless you talk about it," Tancredo said. "And you can't talk about it if you're usually yelling about it."