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El Paso, Two Weeks Later El Paso, Two Weeks Later
(about 1 hour later)
Two weeks after a killer drove over 600 miles to kill Mexicans at an El Paso Walmart, the husband of one of the 22 victims was joined by members of our community at his wife’s funeral service. Antonio Basco and Margie Reckard had no other family, so he invited us to stand with him to mourn his loss and celebrate her life. This weekend, we did, in the thousands. Mr. Basco has a beautiful El Paso family now. Two weeks after a killer drove over 600 miles to kill Mexicans at an El Paso Walmart, the husband of one of the 22 victims was joined by members of our community at his wife’s funeral service. Antonio Basco had no other family in town, so he invited us to stand with him to mourn his loss and celebrate her life. This weekend, we did, in the thousands. Mr. Basco has a beautiful El Paso family now.
It’s just one example of the way the people of this city have been and will continue to be there for one another in the wake of our tragedy. We’ll cook meals, raise funds, pray our rosaries and embrace those in need. And we will do it with the dignity and the grace we are known for.It’s just one example of the way the people of this city have been and will continue to be there for one another in the wake of our tragedy. We’ll cook meals, raise funds, pray our rosaries and embrace those in need. And we will do it with the dignity and the grace we are known for.
But this isn’t enough. As the story of our city’s tragedy fades from the headlines, we need to demand this kind of grace from the people we’ve put in positions of power. This moment in American history must be our turning point — on hate, on racism, on guns and violence. This must mean something to us. Our values must be worth fighting for, or else, what do we have left?But this isn’t enough. As the story of our city’s tragedy fades from the headlines, we need to demand this kind of grace from the people we’ve put in positions of power. This moment in American history must be our turning point — on hate, on racism, on guns and violence. This must mean something to us. Our values must be worth fighting for, or else, what do we have left?
Since August 3, life in El Paso has been a blur of tears, hospital visits, grief, surgeries, hope, funerals, prayers, vigils, rallies. I’ve had conversations I never thought I’d have in America. A middle-school girl asked me why people would hate her for being Mexican. A Vietnam War veteran pleaded with me to explain to the country that he’s been made to feel like he’s not an American because of his ethnicity. A grandmother wept as she told me she worries because her grandchildren have brown skin.Since August 3, life in El Paso has been a blur of tears, hospital visits, grief, surgeries, hope, funerals, prayers, vigils, rallies. I’ve had conversations I never thought I’d have in America. A middle-school girl asked me why people would hate her for being Mexican. A Vietnam War veteran pleaded with me to explain to the country that he’s been made to feel like he’s not an American because of his ethnicity. A grandmother wept as she told me she worries because her grandchildren have brown skin.
Over two weeks of trying to make sense of the senseless, trying to understand how we got here.Over two weeks of trying to make sense of the senseless, trying to understand how we got here.
It is no coincidence that El Paso found itself at the intersection of the gun violence epidemic and America’s hate epidemic. Texas has some of the weakest gun laws in the country (and in less than two weeks, they’ll be even more lax, with new laws going into effect that allow guns in churches, schools and foster homes). El Paso, a community deeply connected to our Mexican neighbor and our heritage, is 80 percent Latino, with immigrants making up a quarter of residents.It is no coincidence that El Paso found itself at the intersection of the gun violence epidemic and America’s hate epidemic. Texas has some of the weakest gun laws in the country (and in less than two weeks, they’ll be even more lax, with new laws going into effect that allow guns in churches, schools and foster homes). El Paso, a community deeply connected to our Mexican neighbor and our heritage, is 80 percent Latino, with immigrants making up a quarter of residents.
When the killer’s motive became clear, I confess that I wondered whether he was, in part, also motivated by our charity toward migrants.When the killer’s motive became clear, I confess that I wondered whether he was, in part, also motivated by our charity toward migrants.
As thousands of refugees have arrived at our doorstep here on the southern border, El Paso did what she always does: welcomes the stranger and cares for the vulnerable. We cooked meals, gathered clothing and donations, gave money and volunteered so that this community could offer hospitality to those in need.As thousands of refugees have arrived at our doorstep here on the southern border, El Paso did what she always does: welcomes the stranger and cares for the vulnerable. We cooked meals, gathered clothing and donations, gave money and volunteered so that this community could offer hospitality to those in need.
In a world caught up in the chaos and division that have become President Trump’s hallmark values, El Paso was a haven from the hate.In a world caught up in the chaos and division that have become President Trump’s hallmark values, El Paso was a haven from the hate.
That changed this month. And while our city still has just as much love, it will take time to heal.That changed this month. And while our city still has just as much love, it will take time to heal.
We know that when the shooter stormed into Walmart with his assault weapon that day, he didn’t see sweet elderly couples paying for their groceries. He didn’t see hardworking construction workers cashing their paycheck for the weekend. He didn’t see enthusiastic coaches and parents and young girls raising money for their soccer team. He didn’t see happy families shopping for school supplies for their kids.We know that when the shooter stormed into Walmart with his assault weapon that day, he didn’t see sweet elderly couples paying for their groceries. He didn’t see hardworking construction workers cashing their paycheck for the weekend. He didn’t see enthusiastic coaches and parents and young girls raising money for their soccer team. He didn’t see happy families shopping for school supplies for their kids.
He saw people with brown skin, an enemy who needed to be taken out.He saw people with brown skin, an enemy who needed to be taken out.
It’s no surprise that he thought Mexicans and immigrants were his enemies. In the minds of many, we have been dehumanized by the hateful words used by Fox News pundits and by President Trump — the man with the loudest voice and most powerful bully pulpit in the world. The man whose words have repeatedly told the country that brown migrants are a threat — to our national security, to our safety and to our identity.It’s no surprise that he thought Mexicans and immigrants were his enemies. In the minds of many, we have been dehumanized by the hateful words used by Fox News pundits and by President Trump — the man with the loudest voice and most powerful bully pulpit in the world. The man whose words have repeatedly told the country that brown migrants are a threat — to our national security, to our safety and to our identity.
The man who called us “rapists,” “criminals” and “animals.” Who said we were ““bringing drugs and crime.” When he rhetorically asked a rally how to stop migrants from crossing into the United States, someone yelled, “Shoot them!”The man who called us “rapists,” “criminals” and “animals.” Who said we were ““bringing drugs and crime.” When he rhetorically asked a rally how to stop migrants from crossing into the United States, someone yelled, “Shoot them!”
It’s not just words about immigrants and Mexico that have caused pain: There’s the separation of children from their families, a policy that has already damaged an entire generation of Central American children, and policies that push migrants and asylum seekers into Mexico, moving them farther away from safety, from due process, from America.It’s not just words about immigrants and Mexico that have caused pain: There’s the separation of children from their families, a policy that has already damaged an entire generation of Central American children, and policies that push migrants and asylum seekers into Mexico, moving them farther away from safety, from due process, from America.
The strategy is cruelty.The strategy is cruelty.
While communities like mine — the lawyers, the nonprofits, the journalists, the activists, the people of good will — scramble to help the vulnerable in any way possible, the president’s team, his enablers in Congress and the media have been giving him applause and cover.While communities like mine — the lawyers, the nonprofits, the journalists, the activists, the people of good will — scramble to help the vulnerable in any way possible, the president’s team, his enablers in Congress and the media have been giving him applause and cover.
And on Aug. 3, a day of horror so profound that it should have served as a wake-up call for the nation, the enablers offered thoughts and prayers.And on Aug. 3, a day of horror so profound that it should have served as a wake-up call for the nation, the enablers offered thoughts and prayers.
But after the thoughts and prayers, there was a doubling down. President Trump, who in the hours after the massacres in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, talked tough about action on gun violence legislation, has predictably already backed down, saying, “We do have a lot of background checks right now.”But after the thoughts and prayers, there was a doubling down. President Trump, who in the hours after the massacres in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, talked tough about action on gun violence legislation, has predictably already backed down, saying, “We do have a lot of background checks right now.”
And just days later, the Trump re-election campaign defended its use of the term “invasion” to describe migrant families who come to the United States.And just days later, the Trump re-election campaign defended its use of the term “invasion” to describe migrant families who come to the United States.
Next, Mr. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security executed the biggest ICE raids America has seen in over a decade in Mississippi. Children returned home from their first day of school only to find their parents had been taken away.Next, Mr. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security executed the biggest ICE raids America has seen in over a decade in Mississippi. Children returned home from their first day of school only to find their parents had been taken away.
Then came the announcement of a new public charge rule that will discourage immigrants from using public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps. When the acting Citizenship and Immigration Services director, Ken Cuccinelli, was asked how the new rule fit into America’s history of welcoming the “tired, poor, huddled masses” (lines from Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus, found on the Statue of Liberty), he said that the poem was originally meant for European immigrants and those “who can stand on their own two feet.” Unfazed by the backlash he received from his ignorant and offensive rewrite of history and literature, he later gleefully pronounced on Twitter that “the best is yet to come!”Then came the announcement of a new public charge rule that will discourage immigrants from using public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps. When the acting Citizenship and Immigration Services director, Ken Cuccinelli, was asked how the new rule fit into America’s history of welcoming the “tired, poor, huddled masses” (lines from Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus, found on the Statue of Liberty), he said that the poem was originally meant for European immigrants and those “who can stand on their own two feet.” Unfazed by the backlash he received from his ignorant and offensive rewrite of history and literature, he later gleefully pronounced on Twitter that “the best is yet to come!”
Hate and violence are destroying America, and there are people in power giving that hate and violence the cover and fuel they need to survive and grow.Hate and violence are destroying America, and there are people in power giving that hate and violence the cover and fuel they need to survive and grow.
I’m hopeful when I think about people like those who were hurt by the killer’s bullets and are still in El Paso hospitals working hard to regain their health and strength. I think about the love they give selflessly, even in their time of struggle. I think about the thousands of El Pasoans who turned out on a Friday night to help Mr. Basco grieve. While El Paso mourns and rebuilds, the generosity of this largely Mexican-American community will provide us the strength and love we need to preserve.I’m hopeful when I think about people like those who were hurt by the killer’s bullets and are still in El Paso hospitals working hard to regain their health and strength. I think about the love they give selflessly, even in their time of struggle. I think about the thousands of El Pasoans who turned out on a Friday night to help Mr. Basco grieve. While El Paso mourns and rebuilds, the generosity of this largely Mexican-American community will provide us the strength and love we need to preserve.
But even as we continue the slow process of healing and rebuilding, there will be more work to do. If we want to truly honor the 22 lives that were taken, the dozens who were injured, and a community and a country picking up the pieces, then we must honestly examine what led up to that moment, and what’s happened since. We must assess the horrific depths to which this country has sunken and figure out how to pull ourselves back.But even as we continue the slow process of healing and rebuilding, there will be more work to do. If we want to truly honor the 22 lives that were taken, the dozens who were injured, and a community and a country picking up the pieces, then we must honestly examine what led up to that moment, and what’s happened since. We must assess the horrific depths to which this country has sunken and figure out how to pull ourselves back.
Veronica Escobar is a Democratic representative from El Paso.Veronica Escobar is a Democratic representative from El Paso.
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