DENVER -- U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo on Tuesday canceled his much hyped visit to the city he recently likened to a Third World Country, following reports of an alleged threat made against the restaurant where he was scheduled to speak, according to a statement from his office.

Miami police Detective Willy Moreno said the department was looking into the report but declined to give details.

"We're not calling it a threat," Moreno said.

Tancredo, who advocates for more restrictive immigration laws, was scheduled to address the Miami Rotary Club in a speech entitled: "Renewing America: The Need for Assimilation" at the Rusty Pelican restaurant in Key Biscayne. It was not immediately clear who canceled the speech.

Messages left for officials at the offices Rotary Club and for Tancredo's spokesman were not immediately returned Tuesday.

"I appreciate the problem presented to the Miami Rotary Club and the restaurant at which I was to speak by the threats of thugs," Tancredo said in a statement. "I certainly do not wish to provide radical separatist groups with an excuse for violence."

Tancredo added, "I knew speaking your mind could be dangerous in Havana - I guess it’s equally dangerous to do so in Miami. Apparently, there isn't much of a difference between the two anymore."

"I hope to some day return to Miami when it has been able to extricate itself from the clutches of the radical multiculturalists," said Tancredo.

Randy Palmer, general manager of the Rusty Pelican, denied the cancellation was related to the alleged threat.

Palmer said the restaurant had decided earlier in the day to ask Tancredo not to come because his presence -- and the likelihood of protesters and media that would accompany him -- would disrupt other holiday parties.

"We thought it was in everyone's best interest if he didn't speak at the restaurant," Palmer said. "All the vehicles would make it difficult for clients, and we have a completely packed restaurant, one small entrance way. If you add in 30 TV stations and such, it would have been way overbearing for us."

Last month, the combative congressman's criticism of Miami sparked a tense exchange with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and other local leaders.

Tancredo said the city suffers because a growing number of residents who don't speak English.

"Look at what has happened to Miami," he told WorldNetDaily, a conservative online news site. "It has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America."

Tancredo's spokesman Carlos Espinosa on Monday acknowledged that many cities without large immigrant populations also suffer from crime and poverty.

"That's a very serious issue," he said, "but that's not Tom's issue."