The mayor's presence at this rally is rather disturbing and alarming. Not only did the mayor stand on the same side as proud white supremacists groups, such as Storm Front, but he also decided to call all those protesting the rally Marxists and communists. Furthermore, he went off on a furious tirade about anyone's authority to question him and his desire to institute 287(g).
For those that will claim that I'm spinning the truth, there were groups handing out communist newspapers and waiving red flags on the protestor's side of the street. However, that represented a small minority which doesn't matter as the mayor should have shown a little more decorum and maturity than that. Besides, nobody wants communism they just want people to be treated with respect and dignity.
-- As a follow-up the mayor did state he was pointing out only those that were actually Marxists and Communists. He also stated in the 8/19/07 Sunday Daily Record that he asked Robb Pearson not to have the rally because he didn't want a rally with a bunch of Nazis running around. Way to go mayor.
Mayor Donald Cresitello: (
thanks for the help K_)
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen; good afternoon supporters and opponents of 287g, and I say to all of you that are here today, God bless America!
For it’s the constitution of the United States that gives the people on the other side of the street the right to protest my request to have 287g. I say to them that is the same constitution of the United States that clearly gives them the right to be here, even despite the fact that they have crossed the border illegally, but along with that right, what they fail to recognize comes the obligation of law. They have an obligation to honor this country. I say to those people across the street who didn’t even have the courtesy to respect the American flag while we tried to honor it, you still don’t get it. The reason people are upset is with illegal immigrants is because they choose to violate the law. This is a country of laws. And law must be honored.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Morristown police department for its wonderful job. To those county officers and state police who are here for protecting all of the participation..participants in this rally. Thank you for your professionalism. I want to thank all of the speakers and organizers of this event, for giving us an opportunity to wake up the American people. I also want to thank those elected officials that stand with us; there are thousands of elected officials, both democrats and republicans, who support the securing of our borders. We should never forget that they stand with us.
I want to remind everybody that this issue has the support of both conservatives and liberals. All peoples are participating in this rally and many people have told me from every walk of life and from all political perspectives that they support my attempt to have to have 287g as a working tool for the Morristown police department. Some people have asked me why is the Mayor of Morristown involved in this debate? Because the Mayor of the town of Morristown wants to enforce the laws, and those who are.. require that felons be kept in prison. 287g will give me an opportunity to access a database that will give Morristown police department another opportunity to better protect the people of Morristown.
I want to remind my opponents that I am here today because I am a man of God. That I am not a person of hate, but just the opposite. I have drawn attention to this issue, both in Morristown, in the state, county and nationally because I want a solution to illegal immigration as all of the people who are here today do. We are here today because we do not have hate in our hearts, but because we want to solve the problem. I am here today because this is the military capital of the American revolution.
And as was discussed before, a few people in Boston threw some tea in a harbor and started a revolution. We are here today to continue the efforts of those individuals, and that revolution who gave us protections under the law; who gave us a constitution that needs to be honored. And I say to those people across the street, while it may be true that no human is illegal, there are humans that are violating the law of this country and those laws must be enforced. I say to those peoplethat we have borders that must be honored and I ask them why if they are doing what is right do you oppose a law enforcement tool that deals with criminal activities.’
I thank Ron..uh...Rob, I’m sorry Rob. I appreciate you bringing this rally together, and we had some questions...ok.
I’m just going to say a few more words about 287g. 287g specifically states that anyone involved in the program cannot be involved in the process of profiling. For those people who continue to distort the truth, it is a criminal act to cross the border of the United States without documents. it is not a civil violation. it is a criminal violation. Why does the ACLU continue to distort the truth, about the laws of this nation. For those people may be prosecuted civilly, its a criminal act to cross our border and seek employment. You do not have the right to ask to be employed if you don’t....are not a legal citizen of this country, nor does anyone have the right to ask you to work for them. You do not have the right to harbor an illegal alien. It is against the federal law to knowingly rent to an illegal alien. You do not have the right to transport an illegal, and therefore it is illegal to pick up an illegal and deliver them to a job site.
I also call upon the governors of this country and specifically the governor of the state of New Jersey to protect the rest of the workers of the state of New Jersey and I call upon him today at this public gathering to enforce the labor law of the state of New Jersey. I challenge Jon Corzine today to hire additional inspectors and enforcers and the Department of Labor, who have the legal obligation to monitor contractors, businesses, restaurants, corporations and make sure they are following the laws of the State of New Jersey. Those are not federal laws, those are state laws. I call upon the Department of Labor to request additional personnel to visit the jobsites on a daily basis, and arrested and convict and prosecute those individuals who are not paying the require state disability insurance, state unemployment insurance. I call upon them to make sure that the workers are protected. That the required worker’s compensation insurance. I call upon the State of New Jersey’s Attorney General to do her job and stop trying to challenge Morristown’s right to enforce the laws that they choose to ignore. How dare they, how dare they question my right as the mayor of this community to move this program forward. These state officials are supporting an illegal underground economy that is siphoning billions of dollars from the unemployment fund, from the disability fund, from the state treasury because they are not paying state income tax, nor are the workers paying state income tax.
So to those individuals across the street, follow the law. Stop trying to distort the facts that we as American citizens, as Morristown residents, are asking for no more from you than to follow the law. I want you to know, to the Communists across the street and Marxists, we know your motives. We know what you are about. And we will not continue to tolerate the attempts of some of you to take over the government of this country.
Maybe if you would stop and listen, you would find out that 287g is a program to protect workers, protect residents, protect Americans against felons. Maybe if you would listen, you would find out that Mayor Cresitello supports an immigration program that is acceptable to all of us, not one that requires amnesty, but one requires the penalty of not being permitted to be a citizen of this country because you jumped the border. So here tonight, I tell you that I support a program that permits an identification card that will be required to carried by those illegals that will at least give them the opportunity to be counted, so that we that we know that we have 10 million or 20 million in this country. This document will also give you the right to work; this document would also give you the obligation to follow the law. That this document will not grant you citizenship, but would permit people to participate in this government in a legal way.
I close by saying, let us all stop the hatred, let us all tell the truth, let us all join together and urge the government of the United States to approve my application 287g and to urge the government of the United States to formulate an immigration policy that’s acceptable , that legal residents of this country who are paying for your violations of law.
Thank you all for coming. This is the beginning of a another revolution. In the historic town of Morristown, where I will carry on the fight for as long as and as far as I can, with the help of those who stand in front of me and those who stand behind me. God Bless America and thank you for coming.