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Cory Gardner Supporters Expose Ugly Truth About Republican Stance Towards Immigrants

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As we noted earlier, there was an ugly incident last night in Boulder, when angry Cory Gardner supporters surrounded a group of immigrant youth. Here’s the release from CIRC (Colorado Immigration Accountability Project):

 Following a rally headlined by former Colorado Congressman and anti-immigrant firebrand, Tom Tancredo, another event for Republican Senate Candidate Cory Gardner last night in Boulder, CO turned from calm to downright ugly, as his supporters confronted a group of immigrant youth who were holding a rally outside the venue.

Shouted one Gardner supporter to the group of young people, “Do you speak English?” Others piled on with similar commentary including, “Do any of you have jobs?”; “Go home” and even “Women are stupid.”

Elise Foley of the Huffington Post, who was live on the scene, tweeted, “A Gardner supporter who wouldn’t tell me his name said we should put undocumented immigrants in gas chambers like Mexico does.”

Highlights from the full exchange have been captured on video here.  Cory Gardner quickly left yesterday’s event without acknowledging his supporters and has yet to respond to the confrontation.

Said Pricilla of Northern Colorado Dreamers United and one of the targets of last night’s exchange: “The experience for me was scary at first because I’m not used to confrontation like that. It was eye opening to see how hateful ‘adults’ could be. I didn’t realize people could be so close-minded.”

Added Maria Arreola, a first-time voter from Longmont, “How I see it is, those are the voters who represent Cory Gardner and they taint his image with hate and ignorance. I was shocked by their anger toward us.”

“As awful as it was to realize how many ignorant people are still out there, I also found it exhilarating because now I feel even more empowered to step up and fight for what’s right in our community,” said Misael Arritola, also a first-time Colorado voter.

According to Patty Kupfer, Managing Director of America’s Voice based in Denver, Colorado, “You can tell a lot about somebody by the company they keep.  No wonder Cory Gardner snuck out the back door. He’s trying as hard as he can to strike a new tone on immigration, but his past, his party and his own supporters tell a very different story.”