Transcript: Unborn Victims' Act May Benefit Illegal Immigrants

This is a partial transcript of The Big Story With John Gibson, May 28, 2004, that has been edited for clarity.

JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, GUEST HOST AND FNC SENIOR JUDICIAL ANALYST: President Bush signing the Unborn Victims Act (search) into law last month. It's also known as Laci and Connor's Law after Laci Peterson (search) and her unborn son, Connor.

Now a pregnant Mexican woman living in Kansas City could use that law to avoid deportation. A federal judge has ruled Myrna Dick's unborn son should be considered an American citizen deserving of legal protection... did anyone see this one coming?

The Unborn Victims Act could possibly now be used to keep pregnant immigrants from being deported.

Who else to turn to but Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo (search) who voted for the law. He joins me now from Denver. Mr. Congressman, here is the big question.

Should "Laci and Connor's Law" prevent a fetus from being deported with his or her mother?

EP. TOM TANCREDO (R) COLORADO: Of course not. It was never — it was never ever meant to deal with anything like this. The law as it was stated by the president was to say that a pregnant woman — the fetus of a pregnant woman was going to be protected against violence. You know, the fact is this. That the deportation of this lady, which should happen if she is —judged to be guilty of the violation of the law. And by the way, it wasn't just the idea of reinstating an order, as I have read this case. It is whether or not she, in fact, fraudulently presented documents to come into the United States. That's a serious ...

NAPOLITANO: Let's assume that she did.

TANCREDO: If she did, then there is only one answer.

NAPOLITANO: It is a very serious charge. And let's assume she did. You are pro-life.

TANCREDO: If she did, then Judge, there's only one answer, she has to actually be deported. That's the punishment for the violation of the law and the child that's growing inside of her and its citizenship status is totally irrelevant. We put people in jail all the time. We put women in jail all the time.

NAPOLITANO: Congressman, you voted for the statute, and the statute says for the purposes of violence, not for the purpose of abortion the fetus in the womb shall be considered a person. That's the first time any statute has said that since Roe v. Wade (search), so how can you justify deporting a person who has legal rights who hasn't committed any crime?

TANCREDO: Because this is not an act of violence against that fetus. The fetus is going to be fine in the — we can assume, in the mother's womb whether it is here or whether it is in Mexico. It is not an act of violence against the fetus to deport the mother. And that's all that that particular law was dealing with ...

NAPOLITANO: Let's say she did ...

TANCREDO: ... acts of violence against the fetus.

GIBSON: Let's say she did lie to get here. She came here, she married an American, she got pregnant. She's going to have a baby. Should she be separated from her baby because she told a lie to the INS?

TANCREDO: Listen, coming into — just coming into the country, you know, sneaking into the country is one thing, but presenting false documentation is a serious crime. And unless you are going to say, by the way, it's a crime that was perpetrated by people we now accuse of terrorism. It is a crime we should prosecute, we shouldn't ignore it because of this peculiar sort of attitude that, you know — I almost thought it was a joke when I first read this. I thought this guy can't be serious. This judge can't be serious. Maybe he's just got a great sense of humor. But the fact is that if he is really going to try and evade the prosecution of the law because this lady is pregnant, he is wrong. It's got nothing to do with this baby. Nothing.

NAPOLITANO: Congressman Tom Tancredo, thanks for joining us. Have a great holiday weekend.

TANCREDO: Pleasure.

Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2004 Fox News Network, L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2004 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, L.L.C.'s and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.