A line of trucks, campers, cars and vans from South Dakota, North Carolina, Washington and Pennsylvania snakes down farm roads and onto the brown winter grass of a ranch in rural Quemado, just steps from the Rio Grande. collected. , Texas.
Saturday's rally was the final stop on a multi-day journey. A convoy of conservative Americans drove to the border to express their frustration, fear and anger over our broken immigration system.
The Quemado location was chosen for its proximity to the city of Eagle Pass, which has been a flashpoint in the bitter standoff over border security and immigration between the Biden administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Other convoys arrived at the border in Yuma, Arizona, and San Ysidro, California this week, all aimed at tightening controls on migrants crossing the border.
Concerns about potential violence followed the motorcade as a clash between the federal government and Republican state leaders seemed increasingly imminent. In December, the federal government set a monthly record for 302,000 encounters with illegal immigrants.
In the end, a rally in Texas, part political protest, part Christian revival, drew a moderate crowd to the ranch, but no outbreaks of violence. Many of the attendees were retirees who decided to travel almost spontaneously after hearing about it through social media or local news.
“We slept in the car,” said George Burton, 73, who chose to join the caravan as it passed through his hometown of Dripping Springs, Texas. He came with his wife, Terry, 71, who had written on the side of their white sport utility vehicle the following: No invasion! ” Her 9-year-old dog Rudy also came along.
“I know there are laws and they aren't being followed,” Barton said.
“We're grateful they're here,” Eagle Pass resident Elias Mata, 70, said as he walked through the rally. “I think Greg Abbott is doing the right thing,” he said, adding that his wife, who he declined to give her name, immigrated from Mexico. She said she agreed and added, “I love America.”
The rally comes across a farm road from the Rio Grande and the Mexican border, against the backdrop of the deployment of miles of bellows wire at Eagle Pass and an escalating legal battle between Texas and the federal government over possession of the riverfront. It was held. Monitoring of city parks by state law enforcement officers.
The court battle has sparked fierce rhetoric, with Abbott and others describing the record numbers of immigrants entering the country as an “invasion.”
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas and said federal border officials can continue cutting and removing concertina wire while the case is pending, many Republican state leaders are calling for armed conflict. He publicly expressed his defiant stance using suggestive expressions.
“Come on, take it,” Sen. Ted Cruz wrote on social media, borrowing the slogan from a flag flown during the Texas Revolutionary War and replacing images of cannons with bellows wire. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted a similar image. Added Alamo silhouette.
Last month, the original version of the flag, which dates back to 1835, flew over the sky amid a dispute with the federal government. Texas Department of the Army Headquarters.
At Saturday's rally, some people wore T-shirts bearing versions of the same slogans and images.
In response to reports of threats of violence against migrants and federal Border Patrol processing centers in Texas, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Saturday that the agency is “taking appropriate steps to protect the safety of our employees and migrants in its custody.” “We are taking the necessary measures,” he said.
Some participants at the Texas rally, including one of the organizers, Reconstructionist pastor Rod Parker, expressed concern that political divisions in the country could lead to civil war. .
“I hope I'm wrong,” Parker said. “We're here to prevent that.” He then excused himself to help baptize a woman near the stage.
Republican governors in 25 states have vowed to stand with Texas in their standoff with the federal government. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that he would deploy hundreds of National Guard troops “to support Texas' efforts to stop incursions on our southern border.”
More than a dozen Republican governors were scheduled to join Mr. Abbott on Sunday at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass Park, a flashpoint for the conflict.
Democrats, as well as immigration and civil rights groups, have accused Mr. Abbott and other Republicans of stirring up an already heated issue.
“This moment reminds us of what happened on January 6,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of the immigrant rights group America's Voice, referring to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald J. Trump. I'll let you do it.”
Over the past two years, Mr. Abbott has steadily expanded a state-level enforcement program at the border known as “Operation Lone Star.” Much of that effort has focused on Eagle Pass, a city of about 28,000 people that has become a popular transit point for large groups of migrants under the Biden administration. Most arrived seeking to be turned over to federal agents for processing and release into the country.
Mr. Abbott is scheduled to appear in court again later this month to defend the latest expansion of the program. The new law, scheduled to go into effect in March, will allow law enforcement officers across Texas to arrest immigrants who cross from Mexico without permission. . The Biden administration filed a lawsuit claiming the act violates the federal government's authority over immigration law.
The Texas portion of Saturday's rally was originally aimed at Eagle Pass. But organizers decided to instead hold the event at the Cornerstone Children's Ranch, about 32 miles north of the city, and asked participants not to travel into the city to avoid possible confrontations there.
“We're telling people emphatically, 'Don't go to Eagle Pass,'” said Anson Bills, operations manager for Cornerstone Children's Ranch.
On Saturday, very few people seemed interested in the trip. Many people sat on folding chairs and listened to Christian music and speeches. “It's like a Trump rally without Trump,” said Tom Welch, 25, who was traveling from St. Louis with his mother.
The overtly religious nature of the gathering was not what some were expecting, and some seemed a little disappointed. “I was looking for pagans, but there weren't any,” said Wayne Harris, 75, who had traveled from Rockport on the Texas coast. “I'm in the wrong place. I believe, and I pray. But I thought this was going to be a Trump rally.”
Hamed Areaziz Contributed to the report.
