Amid Passion-Filled Immigration Debate, Migrants Cast As Villains In Texas Political Narrative

AUSTIN, TX — Immigrants are the new boogeyman. The rise of Donald Trump, fueled with his nationalistic themes predicated largely on mass deportations or bans of foreigners, resonated powerfully with his base. Lately, politicians in Texas have eagerly embraced the narrative of scary immigrants in appealing to their political base as well.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas issued a tweet accompanied by a photo purported to be a safe house for an undocumented labor force. "At a immigrant stash house," Cornyn wrote in tones palpably chilly if not altogether grammatical. "18 arrested," the post was headlined.

It didn't go well. Many of his followers derided the tweet, wondering instead when the senator would agree to a town hall on other issues such as the future of affordable health care. Like his GOP counterparts, none of the conservative lawmakers representing Texas have planned community town halls with constituents as they have asked, perhaps chastened by a recent such gathering by Utah's Jason Chaffetz where the Republican lawmaker was shouted down from the stage from an anxious constituency demanding answers on the fate of their health care.

"Will you pick my strawberries and fruits and veggies when they're all gone, John," one follower wrote to Cornyn in response to his "immigrant stash house" tweeted photo. "I'd appreciate that. Least you could do."

Another follower focused on the setting itself, showing not firearms or ammunition but a benign assemblage of mattresses and bedding on which laborers had slept. "That looks like a bed full of sheets," the follower wrote. "Between that pic and the photo of your name tag, I'd say don't quit your day job."

"This seems a bit improper 4 u to be tweeting, sir," wrote another "What was their crime? Or were they just 'illegal?' " Another referenced a biblical passage in response, reflective of the favored tactic among conservative Texas politicians to intersperse gospel among their tweet missives: "Had a nice Gospel reading in church yesterday, something about 'whatsoever you did to the least of your brethren, you did to me. ' "

The tactic of embracing the Trump-fueled narrative that posits immigrants as criminals has taken hold in Texas, a state bordering Mexico where a wall is now envisioned to keep out undocumented migrants. In contrast to years past when conservatives such as former Texas governors George W. Bush and Rick Perry among others called for a more methodical approach to immigration reform, today's crop of lawmakers aren't shy in calling for mass deportations — whether or not those detained have criminal histories.

Sometimes, the adopted narrative doesn't match the reality. But some politicians don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

Take Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller, for example. When police interviewed two Texas hunters who had been shot last month in the remote town of Calendaria bordering the Chihuahuan desert, the men claimed a group of immigrants were the culprits and had tried to steal their RV to boot. Miller latched onto the story, posting it on his Facebook account as fodder to argue how the incident yields yet another reason for that wall to be built.

But the story turned out to be fake. After a thorough investigation, police learned the two men had actually shot each other. The story of the marauding migrants with malfeasance on their mind turned out to be a fabrication. Miller promptly deleted his post, but not before it was shared more than 65,000 times.

"The obvious thing is I’m not a news organization," Miller said in a subsequent interview with KUT News in defending the post. "You know, y’all are holding me to the same standards as you would a news organization."

That post-now-ask-questions-later approach applies to Gov. Greg Abbott as well. A fierce proponent of mass deportations in his culturally diverse state, Abbott recently responded to follower Cassie J asking for justice for her grandpa, who was help up by an unidentified suspect at a Church's chicken restaurant in the South Texas border town of McAllen, as ValleyCentral.com reported at the time.

The girl told the governor via Twitter that something about innocent grandpa targeted by illegals for his ID while pleading for better border security in a tweet that caught the governor's attention.

In cowboy-style response, Abbott assured her he would avenge grandpa. "Let him know that Texas is coming to his rescue," Abbott wrote back. "We'll work to protect him & put an end to this."

But it's still unclear who actually did the mugging, much less is it was an undocumented immigrant as Cassie J. affirmed. This much is known: At around 6:30 p.m. last Friday, Homero Guzman, 80, stopped by his neighborhood Church's for some dinner. This, too, is known: "Cassie J." turns out to be Cassandra Luevano, 25, who just so happens to be the South Texas regional director for the Republican Party of Texas.

Luevano claims the mugger spoke Spanish with a Mexican accent while asking her grandfather if he was a U.S. citizen. She also claims the unknown mugger wanted her grandfather to go with him somewhere before settling on just taking his wallet.

But according to a police investigation, there is no reason to suspect the incident as a cross-border violence. "There's nothing in this report that would indicate any other matter than a robbery,"officer John Saenz, a spokesman for the McAllen Police Department, told reporters.

Philip Ethridge, an associate professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley who studies crime and border security, also doubts the robbery is related to border security.

"If this had happened in any other city — I hate to say this — it would have been just a routine crime that police take reports on every day," Ethridge told ValleyCentral.com, adding that not every crime near the border is actually a matter of border security.

But by that time, a mere two hours after Luevano's plea, Abbott had already sent his reply for all his 150,000 followers to see. Despite lack of an arrest, no suspect and without the benefit of a factually based police report, Abbott's inference of an undocumented criminal remains posted to his Twitter account, re-tweeted more than 1,000 times and "liked" by nearly 2,000.

Abbott has voiced full-throated support for mass deportations, recently stripping Travis County of $1.5 million of grant money in a disagreement with Sheriff Sally Hernandez over her more nuanced approach to enforcing immigration laws locally. Abbott has made the elimination of so-called "sanctuary cities" a top priority and is championing a pending bill that would assess fines and even jail time for elected officials not adhering to his preferred policies related to immigration enforcement.

The political narrative positing immigrants as more criminally prolific than people born in the U.S. doesn't square with the reality. As the New York Times recently reported, several studies, over many years, have concluded that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S.

What's more, experts say the available evidence fails to support the notion that undocumented immigrants commit a disproportionate share of crime. Even the most creative manipulation of the data can't prove otherwise, Alex Nowrasteh, immigration policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, told the Times: “There’s no way I can mess with the numbers to get a different conclusion,” he said.

Analyses of census data from 1980 through 2010, the Times reported, show that among men ages 18 to 49, immigrants were one-half to one-fifth as likely to be incarcerated as those born in the U.S. Across all ages and sexes, about 7 percent of the nation’s population are non-citizens, while figures from the Justice Department show that about 5 percent of inmates in state and federal prisons are non-citizens, the newspaper reported.

But the narrative painting immigrants as prolific purveyors of mayhem isn't limited to state or federal lawmakers, but spills to the local levels of government as well — at a simpler ground level where the supposed scourge could be more easily checked and verified rather than relying solely on anecdotal evidence.

But anecdotal, not data-driven, evidence seems to be the preferred method to demonize immigrants at even local levels of government. Ahead of recent Austin City Council approval for bolstered funding for legal aid services to aid immigrants amid a wave of sweeps by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents in Austin, conservative council member Ellen Troxclair spoke against the measure during the Feb. 16 city council meeting.

While she lauded efforts of The Catholic Charities, an ultimate recipient of the bolstered funds, in helping people in need, Troxclair voiced concern over the specter of a criminal alien element among the general population.

"But for the many anecdotes for people who are here in genuine need of these services, there are also people here who have committed heinous crimes, and who have been accused of sexually assaulting children and domestic violence," Troxclair said.

She spoke on behalf of her constituents expressing fear of the envisioned menace: "I understand there is a fear in our immigrant community about their future and their families, but there is also legitimate fear on the other side for people who have been here for generations — and they aren't hateful — they feel like their quality of life and their future in this country is being threatened; they feel their safety is being threatened when they see reports of undocumented immigrants committing crimes against people in our community and not being held accountable."

The sweeping generalization and suggestion that criminal immigrants are let off free despite committing crimes drew a strong rebuke from council member Greg Casar.

"There is no one in this community that is accused of committing a crime who is not taken through the criminal justice system the same as anyone else," Casar said. "And nothing that we have said today on our side of the issue is untrue, whereas what you have implied, and what other leaders have implied, is deliberately misleading to score political points on the vulnerable."

He urged Troxclair to express her concerns about her constituents' quality of life and other worries, but with a foundation of facts: "If what you want is to express those people should be treated more harshly because of where they come from, then you can make that statement. But the statement that those people are let out on the street and are dangerous...then you're deliberately misleading people. If you have concerns, make sure you're making accurate statements."

The divisiveness that marks the immigration debate on opposite side of the ideological spectrum shows no signs of coalescing anytime soon. Fortified ICE raids will likely continue in Austin and other parts of the country in the coming days, weeks and maybe months.

But one thing is clear in the current political climate: To many in this growing passion-filled play, the undocumented immigrant has emerged as bona fide boogeyman from the smallest of political stages to the biggest of national platforms. And that antagonistic role that's been assigned the immigrant is likely to grow in prominence, with or without facts to inform the casting.

>>> Photo courtesy Workers Defense Project