Tancredo to visit Miami "third world’

After drawing criticism from Florida lawmakers for calling Miami a third-world country, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) will visit the city Thursday to speak on “The Need for Assimilation.”

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) invited him to visit Miami after hearing about the comments. Through a spokesman, the congressman declined the invitation unless it included “a stay at a five-star beachfront resort.”

Replying to a letter from Florida Governor Jeb Bush admonishing him for his comments, Tancredo said he had spoken for most Floridians in making the comments and that they could not be “easily dismissed through politically correct happy talk.”

Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, will speak at the Rotary Club of Miami on Dec. 14.