Immigration critic Tancredo to leave House

DENVER, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who has made illegal immigration one of his leading concerns, will give up his seat in Congress at the end of next year.

The five-term Denver-area representative didn't announce any immediate plans, although the Rocky Mountain News said Monday there was speculation that Tancredo could be eyeing a challenge for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., in 2010.

"It's the fact that I really believe I have done all I can do in the House, especially about the issue (immigration) about which I care greatly," he told the Rocky Mountain News.

Tancredo has been a vocal critic of illegal immigration and what he has called a “cult of multiculturalism” in the United States and has made the issue a major plank in his dark-horse run for the Republican presidential nomination.