AUSTIN, Texas — A band of grassroots conservatives will descend on the state Capitol this weekend with the hope of commencing a movement that can force Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to take drastic action at the Mexico border.
The “How Many More” rally downtown on Saturday afternoon is meant to “create a movement” nationwide to force the state to address the border crisis, according to Mark Meckler, a political activist who co-founded Tea Party Patriots in 2009 and has led event planning.
TEXAS STATE TROOPERS DEPLOYED BY ABBOTT STOPPED 8,721 HUMAN SMUGGLERS
One speaker, rock star and outspoken conservative Ted Nugent, joined the rally speaker list out of frustration with the state not legally declaring an “invasion” at the border.
“It dazzles most Texans that Gov. Abbott has not secured the Texas border. He has expressed a willingness to engage on this issue but there hasn’t been enough concrete action taken to actually solve the glaring crisis,” Nugent said in an email. “Complaining that D.C. isn’t fixing the problem while you have state resources that can be used is no longer going to be allowed. The people of Texas are demanding action … now.”
Meckler said he came up with the idea earlier this year and has funded it through private donations. His goal is “to coalesce a movement” that only builds after Saturday.
Ultimately, Meckler and the other speakers want the Texas legislature and Abbott to pass HB 20, which would establish the Texas Border Defense Unit, essentially a state version of the Border Patrol, though its responsibilities are unclear given that state police are not legally permitted to enforce federal immigration laws.
The border force bill was introduced in March but has not been marked up by the House committee. It would also allow state police to apprehend and then transport to ports of entry immigrants who crossed illegally. The immigrants would then be dropped off at the port of entry.
The rally is also meant to drum up pressure for Abbott to declare an “invasion” and label Mexican cartels “terror organizations.”
“Texas has the right to repel the invasion. We need to give them the courage and the backbone,” Meckler said. “We’re able to repel invasions using language imminent danger, and I would argue this is an imminent danger. Texas is in the middle of an existential crisis. … The state is actually in actual danger today.”
Meckler said he was “not confident at all” that Washington would act to end the border crisis and said he was not familiar with the House GOP’s comprehensive immigration legislation advancing through the House of Representatives.
“The goal is to not just bring to light the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis we are facing on our Texas border, but to demand actual action,” Nugent said. “Gov. Abbott and the Texas Legislature have the opportunity and moral duty to act on H.B. 20 and other actions that empower the state to repel the invasion. It has to happen now.”
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Guests include Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), former CBS News reporter Lara Logan, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference President Samuel Rodriguez, PragerU personality CJ Pearson, Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Mark Morgan, Lost Voices of Fentanyl Co-President Virginia Krieger, and Veterans for Child Rescue founder Craig Sawyer, among others.
Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
