'Army of God' arrives at US border to protest immigration

In trucks, pickup trucks and trailers, hundreds of people began arriving in the extreme south of the United States, this Saturday (3), to demonstrate against the immigrant “invasion” that they say is affecting the country, as well as the “re-establishment” of the “border”.

“Join God's Fight” was written on the body of one of the vehicles that arrived at a farm in the town of Quemado, Texas, with 162 people, scattered with old houses in the middle of a valley where the natural border runs through the Rio Grande. between the United States and Mexico.

Every month, thousands of migrants cross the river from Central and South America, making long journeys in search of better living conditions in the United States. The issue is central to the debate surrounding the US presidential election in November this year.

It was on the banks of this river that the activists decided to meet themselves as “We the People” (“We the People”, the preamble to the US Constitution refers to).

A few days ago, one of the organizers of the event said that the participants were “God's army”.

Under the slogan “take back our border”, these activists started convoys last week, from different parts of the country towards towns along the southern border, to camp this weekend.

“Migration at the border is out of control. We are being invaded and we have to control what happens,” Robin Forzano, 43, who controls access to a farm in Texas, told AFP.

Pickup trucks with flags of support for former President Donald Trump, the Republican favorite in the November presidential election, and chants of rejection of incoming Democratic incumbent Joe Biden arrived at the scene.

“Heaven has walls, Hell has open borders,” says an activist sign.

– “Disaster Zone” –

“When you go to Mexico, there are big people, but when they cross over to this side, it looks like they're looting,” says Marty Byrd, 73, a Trump supporter in Eagle Pass.

The town, 30 kilometers from Quemado, is at the center of a conflict between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Biden administration.

Abbott is being sued by the federal government for taking control of Shelby Park, which has access to the river, with military forces and erecting a barbed wire fence along the river.

In mid-January, the Biden administration said Texan soldiers blocked federally-jurisdictional border police from entering the park to rescue three migrants who had drowned. The Texas government denied the allegations.

Biden sued the Supreme Court, which gave border police the authority to cut down the barbed wire fence. The governor protested and erected more fences.

With a kayak rental business on the river, Jesse Fuentes finds himself directly affected by the situation: “The river is now a disaster zone (…) the park is becoming a military base.”

“There are some groups that claim to be God's army and come to our society to spread hatred (…) I am worried because we are not like that,” he added.

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