Trump wall divides El Paso demonstrators
EL PASO, Texas – Mariachis versus MAGA hats. Pro-wall versus pro-immigrants. President versus potential presidential hopeful.
This Texas border city of 684,000 residents was rocked Monday by dueling political rallies as a campaign event by President Donald Trump was met with protests led by former Democratic congressman and El Paso native Beto O’Rourke, a potential contender against Trump in next year’s presidential election.
Across the city, Trump supporters voiced their approval of the president, especially in his steadfast effort to erect a border wall along the southwest border with Mexico. A campaign rally at the El Paso County Coliseum drew several thousand supporters.
Trump took a jab at his El Paso rival, calling O’Rourke “a young man who has very little going for himself except he has a great first name.” His speech was interrupted repeatedly by anti-Trump protesters in the crowd.
“Where do these people come from?” Trump said, widening his arms.
A mile away, several thousand protesters shouldered a windy, cold evening to hold a counter-rally. They held signs that read “Immigrants Make America Great” and “BETO 2020” while mariachi music rang out.
O’Rourke delivered a speech in English and Spanish, denouncing Trump’s policies and harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration. “We, together, are making a stand for the truth against lies and hate and intolerance,” he told the cheering crowd. “We are going to show the country who we are.”
The Trump rally, held in strongly Democratic El Paso, came a week after the president’s State of the Union address, in which he angered many locals by saying El Paso was “once considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities” until a security fence was erected. Trump wants $5.7 billion to build a wall, a sticking point in a government shutdown that dragged for 35 days.
Supporters of Trump – and his calls for a wall – lined up outside the El Paso County Coliseum as early as 6 a.m., carrying lawn chairs and sack lunches. Vendors sold Trump-themed hats, Tshirts and banners from folding tables.
Randy Ashbaugh traveled 120 miles from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, along with his grandson Maddox, 13, to see the president. “Build that wall,” Randy Ashbaugh said. “It is very important . ... We need to build the wall to stop drugs and illegal immigration.”
Sherry Lewis, a schoolteacher from El Paso, said she took the day off to attend the president’s rally, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The sentiment was dramatically different a mile down the road.
Lyda Ness-Garcia, one of the organizers of the counter-rally, said she and others are dismayed that El Paso has been the site for controversial federal immigration practices. The Trump administration launched a pilot program here for family separations before expanding the program, she said. The policy drew fierce criticism and ultimately was dropped. “El Paso, unfortunately, has been the testing grounds for some of the most inhumane policies of this administration,” Ness-Garcia said.
Silvestre Reyes, a former Border Patrol sector chief here and ex-congressman representing El Paso, said he was taken aback by the inaccuracy of Trump’s comments on El Paso. Illegal crossings into El Paso dropped from about 10,000 a day to less than 200 after he launched Operation Hold the Line more than a decade before the security fence went up.
“It’s very frustrating to have someone at that level who could misrepresent what actually goes on,” Reyes said.
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