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Tom Tancredo, the U.S. House member from Colorado who has made illegal immigration his passion and is a potential 2008 presidential candidate, will launch a five-day South Carolina trip with several Upstate appearances.

In announcing his upcoming trip, the fourth-term Republican said his efforts are not about immigration, but "an illegal, unlawful immigration invasion, which if we don't stop now, America will suffer a tremendous shock to its culture."

He'll be visiting a state that has seen the Southeast's greatest gain in foreign-born residents since the 2000 U.S. Census, up 47 percent, with seven of 10 being Hispanic immigrants. Tancredo, 60, has formed the private, not-for-profit Americans Have Had Enough Coalition to focus on "disseminating information pertaining to illegal immigration, government education, eminent domain, and obese government." He said, "We hope to work with existing organizations in South Carolina and other states that have been working in the trenches to fight the tidal wave of illegal immigrants that have come to the U.S. in general and South Carolina in particular."

Tancredo is to begin the trip with a private event tonight in Spartanburg.

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Also, Rick Beltram, Spartanburg Republican Party chairman, said Tancredo will speak at 7:20 p.m. during a Thursday evening rally at county GOP headquarters, 880 E. Main St.

Tancredo, a former junior high school teacher, will speak at a Southern politics class at Clemson University on Friday morning and will speak at a 1:05 p.m. event at the J. Verne Smith Auditorium at Greenville Technical College to be hosted by the Greenville Republican Party.

Following an afternoon radio talk show appearance, Tancredo will attend a private reception at the Poinsett Club.

He'll be in Columbia, Mayesville and Aiken over the following few days.