Shutterstock / lev radin
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas in August 2022.
Although some Republicans have embraced a message of unity following last weekend' attempted assassination attempt on presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, Abbott's speech was anything but a come-together moment.
During his mic time, Abbott railed against President Joe Biden for having "open border policies," even though the administration last month issued an order limiting the number of asylum seekers who can legally cross. He also falsely claimed that neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris had ever visited the U.S.-Mexico border.
Abbott also bragged about the hundreds of miles of razor wire he ordered deployed along the Rio Grande and boasted about his program to bus migrants to Democrat-controlled cities. Civil-rights groups have widely decried the bussing plan as costly and inhumane publicity stunt, and the razor wire deployments have met with resistance from federal officials.
"Biden has welcomed into our country rapists, murderers, even terrorists," Abbott said in defense of his border crackdown.
"[Trump] will enforce the immigration laws," Abbott said, wagging a finger. "He will fight the Mexican drug cartels, and he will arrest the criminal illegal immigrants and put them behind bars. Or, send them back."
The crowd, some holding signs reading "Mass Deportation Now," broke into chants of "Send them back."
Abbott's speech and TV shots of the crowd response have drawn a wave of criticism on social media.
Immigration reform group America's Voice raised concerns about the "Mass Deportation Now" signs, arguing that a Trump administration effort to carry out such a move would devastate families.
"The fact that area full of people were waving these signs, without thought to how many American families and lives would be destroyed by such a policy, should be THE front-page news story today," the group tweeted.
Tim Young, director of public relations at Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Global Refuge agreed.
"This doesn't feel like a political rally," Young wrote on social media platform X. "It reads as something far more sinister when you have thousands of people chanting 'SEND THEM BACK' and proudly waving their 'MASS DEPORTATION' signs in the air."
Grassroots group Mothers Against Greg Abbott called the signs "offensive" and likened the gathering's vibe to that of a Nazi rally.
"The mass deportation signs are offensive," the group tweeted. "This is scary, giving Nazi vibes. Immigrants are human beings, Greg! St. Peter is watching you! This is not what Jesus would do. Make Abbott Go Away!
The mass deportation signs are so offensive. This is scary and giving Nazi vibes. Immigrants are human beings Greg! St. Peter is watching you! This is not what Jesus would do. Make Abbott Go Away! https://t.co/i8FRmMrc3D
— MothersAgainstGregAbbottPAC/MothersforDemocracyPAC (@MomsAGAbbott) July 18, 2024
It's not the first time Abbott's anti-immigrant rhetoric has drawn condemnation.
As the far-right "Take Back Our Border Convoy" snaked its way through Texas en route to Eagle Pass in February, Democratic U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar, both of whom represent San Antonio, warned that if violence had broken out, Abbott's rhetoric would be to blame.
"The Republican politicians who are currently encouraging a standoff at the southern border are undermining public safety and risking an escalation that could easily become deadly for asylum seekers, Border Patrol agents and innocent citizens who get caught in the crossfire," Castro said at the time.
Abbott has taken heat for repeatedly likening surges in border crossings to an "invasion," a word frequently invoked by White supremacists.
Although Abbott's address marked the first time he's been invited to speak at the RNC since being elected governor in 2014, Fox News didn't appear to be impressed enough to air his speech live. Instead, the right-wing network aired an interview with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
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