The Take Back Our Border truck convoy is focused on one message and one message only – President Biden must secure the southern border now. Any other messages are being muted.
This is how it should be. The organizers of the truck convoy calling attention to the Biden border crisis have arrived in the Eagle Pass, Texas area for their Saturday rally. There are also rallies scheduled in Yuma, Arizona, and San Ysidro, California. There is a screening process for those who wish to join the convoy in their staging area.
The convoy arrived in Quemado on Friday night. The truckers are staying at the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch. People deemed too extreme are being denied entry. Several groups were turned away and that is causing protests against the truckers. It’s a protest against the protesters. Groups are showing up with messages against a number of things. Some protest Black Lives Matter, others protest gays and AIDS. None of their grievances are germane to this border security demonstration.
Focus, people. This is a single-message protest.
A group of so-called street preachers holding signs that read, ‘BLM are racist thugs,’ and ‘AIDS: Judgement or Cure’ were outraged after they were denied entry to the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch.
‘You’re worse than Democrats,’ a man named ‘Jim’ yelled into a megaphone across the street from the convoy gathering.
‘I’ve personally been to over 25 Trump rallies and never had a reaction like this.’
One organizer repeatedly honked his car horn in an attempt to drown out the loud speaker and the local cops showed up at one point.
‘We came here thinking we might make some friends, but I guess our Christianity doesn’t mesh with whatever they’re trying to do here,” Jesse Morrell from Open Air Outreach told DailyMail.com.
It’s not a Trump rally. It’s not Festivus. There were plenty of red MAGA hats worn by the convoy truckers and by those trying to join the convoy. The organizer explained why they have to screen those who wish to join them.
‘The convoy has been traveling across the country; they’re very tired. They’ve been dealing with a lot of criticism, threats, making them look like January 6ers,’ explained Mike Forzano of the group Exiled Patriots that is providing security for the convoy.
‘We’re not about confrontation here. If you’re about confrontation, you’re not coming in. To remain peaceful, we have to have peaceful people.’
The convoy organizers have said all along that their goal is for a peaceful protest. Some of the Take Our Border Back organizers are pastors.
“The Take Our Border Back leadership team asks you to join us in praying for our nation, elected officials, and uniting our country,” the convoy’s website reads. “Our peaceful convoy will help all Americans have a respectful conversation about the future of our country. The time has come to unite as a country and pray.”
The truckers are being portrayed as far right-wing conservatives and their religious beliefs have been noted.
“This is a biblical, monumental moment that’s been put together by God,” one convoy organizer said on a recent planning call. “We are besieged on all sides by dark forces of evil,” said another. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. It is time for the remnant to rise.” (The remnant, from the Book of Revelation, are the ones who remain faithful to Jesus Christ in times of crisis).
Liberals are accusing the God’s Army members of Christian nationalism.
From a piece written by the executive director of Vote Common Good, the truckers are out of step with the rest of Americans. He writes that members of his group will hold their own rally on Sunday. It’s all political. He mentions in the article that Trump can be defeated in November if he loses just 3% of evangelical and Catholic voters.
Yet instead of loving and welcoming our neighbors, as good Christians ought, Christian nationalists are looking to pour fuel on the fire for political gain. Clearly, some Christian voters, the primary audience for this pernicious vision of America, need to be shown why Christian nationalism, and candidates like former President Donald Trump, are anathema to both Christian and democratic values. That’s why our group of faith leaders is also traveling to Eagle Pass and hosting our own rally on Feb. 3.
Ultimately, this weekend is one stop on a larger journey we’re on this year to show voters of faith around the country that there’s another way. I’m the executive director of Vote Common Good and, by our estimate, if just 3% of evangelical and Catholic voters who supported Trump previously are convinced not to do so this year, he and Christian nationalism will be defeated at the polls in November.
This paragraph from this naive man’s article is particularly galling:
Despite Republican rhetoric to the contrary, the border is safe — unless you are a migrant. The only option for entering along the southern border is to cross the Rio Grande River, climb a wall, or trek through a desert. Why do people take such risks? Because they’re out of better options. Border crossing closures have increased and allotments for asylum claims have been drastically reduced.
Please. This is absurd. There is a legal way to enter the United States. Ports of entry are all along the southern border. There are international bridges for people to legally go back and forth between Texas and Mexico, which is done thousands of times a day without incident. Wading across the Rio Grande River is not the only way to cross the border. Tell the property owners and Border Patrol agents how safe the southern border is. This man’s portrayal of Republicans as the bad guys tells you all you need to know. And, dragging Trump into the mix is on him. The convoy organizers haven’t done that.
We’ll see how this goes today. The convoy is reported to be smaller than the organizers expected. Fourteen Republican governors will rally with Governor Abbott Sunday in a show of support.