UPDATE: The “God’s Army” convoy has reached its rally location in Quemado, Texas. Click here for more.
DRIPPING SPRING, Texas (NewsNation) — A convoy of protesters hoping to draw attention to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border was on its way Friday to Eagle Pass, Texas — a city that has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate.
“God’s Army” began in Norfolk, Virginia, and had made previous stops in Florida and Louisiana before settling in Dripping Spring, Texas. They’re expected to head towards Eagle Pass to, as they say, support local law enforcement.
The convoy held a rally Thursday night with an estimated few hundred in attendance, with dozens more in the community just wanting to catch a glimpse of the goings-on. Rock musician and frequent political activist Ted Nugent performed, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin addressed the crowd.
“It’s unconscionable, it’s is treasonous what our federal government is doing to us is actually sanctioning and invasion,” Palin said of the number of migrants illegally crossing into the U.S.
Before stopping in Dripping Spring, the convoy boasted about 50 vehicles. Organizers say the group has raised around $160,000 so far.
Convoy organizers say their mission is to stand up against “globalists” who they claim are conspiring to keep the U.S. border open and allow immigrants to cross illegally from Mexico.
The group is calling on active and retired law enforcement, military, veterans, elected officials and other “LAW ABIDING, freedom-loving Americans” to join the cause. Their goal is to “shed light on the obvious dangers posed by wide open Southern borders,” according to a news release dated Jan. 12.
What Locals Are Saying
Catherina Castaneda, who lives close to where the convoy plans to hold a rally, told NewsNation that while she shares the convoy’s concerns about the border, she worries about having so many people flock to the area at once.
“They’re (the convoy) moving everything to Quemado,” said Castaneda. “If you don’t know Quemado, we’re a really small community. We have a lot of farmland and a lot of rural roads. Where are all these trucks going to park? Are you going to be up and down my road? If there are people that are going to protest, what do we prepare for?”
How It Started
The convoy comes amid a bitter legal dispute involving the White House, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Supreme Court.
Abbott, a Republican, said this week the battle “is not over” following the high court’s ruling to allow Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border while a lawsuit over the wire continues.
Texas sued the federal government after Border Patrol agents began cutting down the wire, and the justices sided with the Biden administration.
On Thursday, 25 Republican governors released a statement of solidarity with Abbott for “stepping up to protect American citizens from history levels of illegal immigration, deadly drugs like fentanyl and terrorists entering our country.”
They also criticized President Joe Biden’s border policies, stating the U.S. remains vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration. Figures released Friday by Customs and Border Protection show there were 302,034 encounters at the southern border in December, a record monthly high.
NewsNation’s Tyler Wornell contributed to this report.