Washington, DC – On a press call held today, elected officials, advocates and experts joined to condemn the relentless campaign by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to target Latinos and immigrants, including his reliance on “invasion” rhetoric – which is the dangerous language of white supremacist conspiracy theories that led to the El Paso massacre in 2019.
The dangerous nativism in Texas extends well beyond Gov. Abbott. Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz announced they will lead a new delegation of GOP elected officials to the southern border. A delegation of 19 GOP Senators last year engaged in photo ops on gun boats in the Rio Grande. Speakers on today’s call highlighted the scope and dangers of these GOP stunts:
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) stated: “It is important to talk about the consequences of not just Governor Abbott’s rhetoric but the extremism he is promoting using state resources. The use of migrants as a prop is nothing new, but it has gotten more dangerous. I am very concerned for communities like mine that we will see more acts of violence against immigrants, Latinos, and communities on the border because of this kind of rhetoric. It’s unacceptable, inhumane, and reckless.”
Greg Casar, Democratic nominee for Texas congressional district 35, stated: “Instead of doing anything to help working Texans, Abbott is prioritizing racial profiling, political stunts, and risking the lives of our families. The overwhelming majority of Texas voters support solutions on immigration, not dangerous rhetoric. I’ll be a 33-year-old member of Congress come January, and Congress has not taken significant action to update our immigration policies virtually since I’ve been born. That has to change. Together, we can make this a state and a country that honors all families, without exceptions.”
Antonio Arellano, VP of Communications for NextGen America, stated: “We believe it’s imperative at this moment, given the most recent actions by the Governor to address disinformation and incentivize civic participation to create a truly representative democracy and state government. One in every three Texans is an immigrant or a child of immigrants and they represent not just the future of Texas but of our country. Gov. Abbott must stop misusing our resources to attack and disenfranchise this important and valuable population. Young voters are now the largest and most diverse eligible voting bloc in Texas history and the plurality of them are Latinos who have the power to hold him accountable at the ballot box this November.”
Zachary Mueller, Political Director of America’s Voice who tracks Republicans’ immigration ads and related social media at the GOP Ad Tracker, noted: “Republicans’ rhetoric is inflammatory and dangerous and has and likely will again lead to violence. While the GOP nativism is not new, it has gotten worse. Even after Buffalo, Republicans have refused to back off. Instead, they have either doubled down or refused to condemn the use of a racist conspiracy theory that already has a significant body count.”
Mario Carrillo, America’s Voice Campaigns Manager and the moderator of today’s call, noted: “As an El Pasoan and Texan, today’s call arrives at a critical time. Gov. Abbott’s latest executive order and his larger nativism will undoubtedly lead to racial profiling against families that look like mine.”
Background
Governor Abbott recently announced a plan to employ the Texas National Guard and law enforcement to arrest people thought to be unauthorized immigrants and take them to border ports of entry. He invoked the language of white supremacist conspiracy theories to justify this stunt, stating that the federal government was failing to protect Texas from an “invasion.”
In 2019, a gunman motivated by the “invasion” conspiracy theory, drove to El Paso and killed 23 people at a Walmart because they looked Mexican. Gov. Abbott, under fire for a fundraising letter he had sent the day prior to the killings that stated, “If we’re going to DEFEND Texas, we’ll need to take matters into our own hands,” acknowledged that “mistakes were made.” In acknowledging his contribution to creating a hostile climate for Hispanics in Texas, Gov. Abbott pledged to do better and be more responsible, noting: “I emphasize the importance of making sure that rhetoric will not be used in any dangerous way.”
Three years later, and soon after another white supremacist gunman writing of ‘invasion’ and ‘replacement’ conspiracies murdered 10 people in Buffalo followed by the mass shooting that left 21 dead in Uvalde, Texas, Gov. Abbott is ignoring his post-El Paso pledge. Instead he has embraced a white nationalist lie that is fostering a dangerous climate of fear and nativism that has proven to lead to violence.
