Democratic U.S. House members are accusing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) of inciting #violence at the U.S.-Mexico border by using #bigoted language about a border "invasion" and encouraging a rightwing convoy to come to the region.
Around 200 vehicles carrying Trump supporters, Christian nationalists and #conspiracy theorists have descended on Quemado, Texas for a "Take Our Border Back" rally amid a standoff between Abbott and President Biden over immigration enforcement.
The Democratic congressional members, all from Texas, said Abbott is being irresponsible and is creating an environment for #violence instead of looking for solutions to fixing a broken immigration system.
Since Monday, the #convoy has made its way to the border to stand against migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally or seeking asylum.
The convoy has been encouraged by some #Republicans and right-leaning #pundits who point to images of migrants trying to get into the U.S.
The gathering was billed as a precursor to a ♦️civil war ♦️and promoted on 😱white nationalist online forums.😱
The Supreme Court's decision last month allowing the removal of #razorwire at the Texas border is a win for the Biden administration in the righteous battle over federal authority in the state.
Abbott last year installed miles of barriers using 👉barbed wire and 👉buoys along the Rio Grande in response to record numbers of migrants arriving at the border.
He has also sent the 🤡Texas National Guard 🤡to the region, a move that has generated accusations that the Guard is standing in the way of federal agents.
Federal attorneys cited the 🔹drowning deaths 🔹of a woman and two children in the Rio Grande as an example of how border agents, who were not allowed past a fence installed by Texas, weren't able to do their jobs and respond to the incident.
Images from the convoy showed a largely peaceful gathering that was well short of the promised 70,000 trucks, though #Confederate and #white Christian #nationalist flags were on display.
"Gov. Abbott understands by now that when he calls this an invasion that he's putting a target on people's backs," Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said Sunday in a press conference.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/convoy-rally-texas-mexico-border-attracts-trump-fans-decry-illegal-imm-rcna136967
