Even an anti-immigrant hate group seems wary about being publicly associated with dangerous “invasion” and great replacement conspiracy theories cited as an inspiration in multiple deadly terrorist attacks, as The Hill’s Rafael Bernal has highlighted. So what’s Rep. Jen Kiggans’ excuse for remaining silent when her colleagues in the House have used this same violent and conspiratorial rhetoric?
The Hill noted an exchange during a House hearing this month, when Jessica Vaughan, a staffer with the anti-immigrant hate group Center for Immigration Studies, “vehemently denied” using antisemitic “invasion” rhetoric linked to numerous mass murders. That was a lie, and we have the receipts to prove it. She’s not the only anti-immigrant voice to publicly disavow this rhetoric. NumbersUSA, another anti-immigration group founded as part of the John Tanton network, also claimed that “we don’t use” this language despite promoting a documentary titled “America, Invaded” this past February.
When anti-immigrant groups founded by a eugenicist like John Tanton are lying about their record left and right, it’s a pretty big indication that the rhetoric adopted by Republicans is reprehensible. Yet Rep. Kiggans (VA-02) has supported bills and resolutions promoted using these deadly conspiracy theories and failed to condemn vile rhetoric from fellow Republicans.
In May 2023, Rep. Kiggans provided a critical vote to help pass H.R. 2, better known as the Child Deportation Act. Rep. Kiggans’ GOP colleagues promoted the bill with white nationalist conspiracy theories about white American “replacement” and a border “invasion,” the kind of rhetoric that inspired attacks in El Paso, Buffalo, and the antisemitic mass shooting in Pittsburgh. In the fall, Rep. Kiggans voted to make Mike Johnson the new House Speaker, who has gone further than most of his colleagues in elevating this dangerous rhetoric that has emerged from the white nationalist fringes. Then, in February, Rep. Kiggans backed a baseless impeachment effort driven by these conspiracy theories, voting to remove Jewish, Cuban refugee DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas despite zero evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors.
Rep. Kiggans has also remained silent as indicted former President Donald Trump has dehumanized immigrants as “animals” and “not people,” minimized the deadly Charlottesville rally where white supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us” and later murdered Heather Heyer as “peanuts,” and as Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called for shooting migrants at the border.
“The fact that the Republican Party has fully embraced the dangerous rhetoric is something that we cannot afford to ignore,” America’s Voice Senior Research Director Zachary Mueller said. “Elected leaders are giving the invasion conspiracy legitimacy and normalization that is exponentially increasing the threat to public safety from white nationalist and antisemitic political violence.” For Tanton network groups, being publicly associated with this rhetoric appears to be a bridge too far. Sadly, that doesn’t appear to be the case for Rep. Kiggans.
