Colorado’s famously anti-illegal immigration former congressman, Tom Tancredo, is enjoying a resurgence in the Trump era.

In between CNN appearances on Wednesday, Tancredo was at the Capitol in Denver to testify in support of House Bill 1134. The controversial bill aimed to hold officials who support sanctuary city policies criminally liable for the “carnage” committed by undocumented immigrants, as sponsor Dave Williams, a Republican from Colorado Springs, put it.

Protesters opposed to the bill rallied in the west foyer as Tancredo snacked in the basement. The protesters said the bill was illegal and offensive, that it would make Coloradans less safe and negatively impact the economy. The energy in the building was charged.

“I’m CNN’s political piñata,” Tancredo told the Colorado Statesman. He was munching on a cookie, relaxing in a cafeteria booth, reliving the years he spent in the building as a state lawmaker. “This Latino guy I was debating on CNN last night said, ‘This guy Tancredo, he was Donald Trump before there was Donald Trump.'” Tancredo laughed uproariously at the thought. “I said, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.”

President Trump issued an executive order this week giving authorities wide latitude to apprehend and deport any immigrants without residency documents. The order is drawing protests around the country and will likely generate waves of lawsuits.

Tancredo is upbeat.

“Every day is like Christmas for me,” he said. “Every day Donald Trump gives me another present.”

Tancredo said Williams’s bill, which the Democratic majority on the House State Affairs Committee predictably voted down after hours of testimony, was an overdue constitutional proposal.

“This is a great bill, one of the best,” Tancredo said. “It’s legal. The courts have said you can outlaw sanctuary cities… And the liability part is great. We tried, believe me. We tried to sue the state,” he said.

“There’s a guy, his name is Kris Kobach, in Kansas, we go hunting together,” said Tancredo. He was talking about the Kansas secretary of state who has taken a hardline on what he calls “criminal” immigrants, or any immigrant who has entered the country without documents. “We tried together to get [a bill like this] passed. We tried to actually bring suits – but officials have immunity,” said Tancredo. “Why? Why is that? What makes them immune?”

He sketched a hypothetical example to make his case.

“If a criminal escapes prison, anywhere in the United States, and your mayor says, ‘If that prisoner comes to my city, it’s okay, I’ll give him immunity. I will not tell anyone they’re here. I will never report them and, even if they try and come and get him, I’ll try to protect him. And that guy, whoever he is… now he’s in your city and he knocks off some bank or he shoots someone on the street. Why would that mayor not be held liable? Why?”

“In fact your mayor is not just an observer in that instance. He is a participant,” said Tancredo. “He took the step to actually create the environment that made it so dangerous, that allowed it to happen.

“My job as a legislator in this building was to protect the innocent from the guilty. In this case, I’m taking the guilty and putting them in proximity to the innocent and if he hits you, I tell him, ‘It’s okay, you’re in sanctuary.'”

– john@coloradostatesman.com