Maybe there is a part of me, still, that hopes Corey will also experience such an epiphany as Robb Pearson. What was clear to me, was that Robb Pearson expressed the feeling that he wasn’t he even sure how he had been caught up in this anti immigrant frenzy initially. Anti Defamation League and others, have said consistently said, that people’s concerns about immigration are being exploited by hate groups, and somehow, their message of prejudice is becoming mainstream. That is what troubles me the most about this issue, that good people are being misled, without even knowing that the words and messages they are using can easily be found on any hate group website.
(p.s. thanks casual observer for the link!)
Robb Pearson, who previously endorsed Cresitello’s call to deputize local police for federal immigration enforcement, said he underwent a personal evolution after a “rapid financial decline” and other hardships led him to relocate to Muhlenberg, Pa.
“If I had the mindset as I have now, I never would have had the rally,” Pearson said. He explained that his own challenges had given him greater empathy.
“I was caught up in the ultraconservative fervor that surrounds the illegal immigration camp,” Pearson said.
“I think we should let them stay,” Pearson added of those in the United States illegally.
Pearson’s July 28 rally near town hall drew hundreds of people, including a counter-protest in support of all immigrants.
Cresitello, who accepted an invitation from Pearson to speak, was jeered by counter-protesters and responded by deriding them as communists and Marxists.
Shortly afterward, Pearson wrote a letter to the Daily Record thanking Cresitello and vowing to press on against illegal immigration.
“I thank Mayor Donald Cresitello for his boldness in standing up against illegal immigration and in seeking to uphold the American rule of law,” Pearson wrote at the time. “I give you a promise: This is only the beginning.”
Pearson said he now believes that “prejudice or political expediency” motivates politicians — including Cresitello — to speak out against illegal immigration.
“They’re not really about solutions. They’re about building rifts. I was part of that, unwittingly or otherwise,” Pearson said.
http://dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/COMMUNITIES34/807160442&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
