Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a press conference in Eagle Pass earlier this month with other Republican governors. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Texas Governor's Office

For all its anti-government rancor and flurry of far-right conspiracy theories, last weekend’s “Take Our Border Back” rally in Eagle Pass remained largely peaceful.

However, extremism experts and Democratic lawmakers caution that the gathering didn’t coalesce in a vacuum. Indeed, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s repeated descriptions of border crossings as an “invasion” helped fuel the anti-immigrant convoy and rally.

What’s more, those critics argue, Abbott’s rhetoric could prompt fringe actors to resort to violence. They point to the 2019 mass slaying at an El Paso Walmart as an example of such a scenario. A shooter massacred 23 people there in what he claimed was an attempt to fight back against a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

“Governor Abbott understands by now that when he calls this an invasion, that he’s putting a target on people’s back,” San Antonio U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said during a Sunday press call by Texas Democrats. “And, it’s not just migrants and asylum seekers, but also Latinos in Texas.”

Indeed, federal authorities arrested a Tennessee man Monday on charges that he violated federal firearms laws as part of a plan to shoot migrants on Texas-Mexico border. He was not on the border at the time of his arrest, not was he traveling with the convoy destined for the Eagle Pass area.

The far-right convoy, a self-described “God’s Army,” initially planned to roll into Eagle Pass’ Shelby Park, the site of Abbott’s escalating standoff with the federal government over immigration enforcement. Instead, the group held its rally at Cornerstone Children’s Ranch in an incorporated village 21 miles north of the park, according to media reports.

Castro confirmed that roughly 200 vehicles showed up at the ranch — significantly more than the 50 or so that stopped in the Hill Country town of Dripping Springs for a similar rally on Thursday. Still, the turnout was a far cry from the 700,000 initially promised by organizers.

Although Sunday’s primary rally was held outside of Eagle Pass, curious attendees did trickle in to view Shelby Park.

“It’s not what I expected, but then again, I don’t know what I expected,” rally goer Misty Gregory told MSNBC. “I can tell you it’s not as bad as I thought, so that’s kind of eye-opening in itself, too.”

Excuses for violence

Gregory may have been caught by surprise because likely Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others on the right have repeatedly described the border as lawless and violent. They falsely maintain that the Biden White House had flung open the door for illegal immigration, creating the chaos.

During a Sunday press conference at Shelby Park, Abbott — who once erroneously claimed migrants are reaping “carnage” in border communities — continued to painted a similarly sinister image.

Abbott said he and the 13 other Republican governors who attended the presser are standing together to stop an “invasion” of migrants. Texas DPS recently detained a member of criminal gang MS-13 who’s on the terrorist watchlist, along with a migrant who previously served in the Iranian military, he added.

Despite those arrests, Abbott said terrorists and violent gang members have likely crossed the border undetected, putting Americans’ lives at immediate risk.

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, last week told the Current that the shrill warnings spouted by Abbott and other elected officials are emboldening those looking for excuses to unleash violence and hate.

“Anti-immigrant rhetoric and white nationalist conspiracies are being spread not just by extremists, but by our elected leaders and far-right influencers,” Beirich said. “The mainstreaming of anti-immigrant hatred is animating some of the most dangerous elements in our society: white supremacists, neo-Nazi and anti-government extremists.”

Despite the lack of violence at the Sunday’s border rally, ominous events followed the caravan.

Authorities reportedly evacuated Eagle Pass’ Firefly migrant processing center Friday in response to anonymous threats to burn it down. Three right-wing militia members armed with long guns also patrolled the streets of Eagle Pass Sunday, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said during the Democrats’ press call.

It’s not migrants making the border dangerous but the extremists drawn there over Abbott’s rhetoric, Cuellar added.

“Some of us have lived on the border for a long time, we understand the border, and the border is one of the safest communities in the whole U.S.,” the congressman said. “It has one of the lowest crime rates for murder, assaults, rape and all that. It’s just incredible what’s happening in Eagle Pass right now.”

Cuellar’s sentiments were echoed by one Eagle Pass resident, who said during a counter-convoy press conference on Sunday that she never felt unsafe in her town until the convoy showed up.

“I’ve always felt very safe here, so I would say it’s a good place to raise your children,” said the resident, who declined to be named. “Today, downtown, was the first day that I felt unsafe just walking down the street in broad daylight.”

Members of the ‘Take Our Border Back’ caravan peddle flags at a rally the group held in Dripping Springs. Credit: Michael Karlis

Political gambit

During Sunday’s call, Castro said he worries the intensifying rhetoric suggests another El Paso-style attack may be around the corner.

“The lies about an open border are dangerous when the facts are that we have more Border Patrol than we ever had, more drones at the border than we’ve ever had, more surveillance than we’ve ever had before, and more law enforcement than we’ve ever had before,” Castro said.

Critics charge that Abbott is willing to risk bloodshed because it’s an election year and he sees political benefit from making voters think the White House has sewn chaos in South Texas.

On Sunday evening, the U.S. Senate released a bipartisan immigration reform package that includes key items on conservatives’ wish list. Among those are stricter asylum requirements, an expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention capacity and a clause requiring Homeland Security to close the border if migrants’ numbers swell beyond certain levels.

Sweetening the pot for Senate Democrats are $60 billion in funding for Ukraine and $14 billion to go towards Israel’s war in Gaza.

Despite Democrats’ generous concessions, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, called the bill “even worse than we expected.” The bill is likely dead on arrival in the lower chamber, according to political observers.

“We are here because [Republicans] want to play games,” U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, said during Sunday’s press call. “They are basically spitting in our faces and telling us that it’s raining. They want us to believe that this is the way that it has to be, that we can only have a policy solution if there’s a Republican in the White House.”

Abbott is playing along with House Republicans’ efforts to block the bipartisan bill by turning Eagle Pass into what Cuellar described as a “movie set.” However, there are costs to his political theater, experts said — namely, that Latinos, whether migrants or U.S. citizens, may end up in the crosshairs.

“We have witnessed and have born the fruit of this type of rhetoric and vigilantism far too many times on this country, and it is time for all Americans to take a stand, united against violence,” Devin Burghart, president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, said Thursday of the GOP’s anti-immigrant hyperbole.

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Michael Karlis is a Staff Writer at the San Antonio Current. He is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., whose work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Orlando...