Combating the Nativist Narrative
Week of August 14, 2023
Falsely claiming an “invasion” to build an intentionally deadly structure in the sovereign territory of another nation:
A document filed by the Department of Justice as part of a lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s intentionally deadly river wall was reported this week and showed it is mostly constructed on the Mexican side of the border. Ironically Governor Abbott’s legal justification relies on a white nationalist conspiracy theory that Texas is suffering an “invasion” and thus can invoke war powers delegated in Article 4 Section 4 of the Constitution. As Aaron Reichlin-Melnick noted, the legal arm of the hate group FAIR filed a brief in the case arguing that “installing the buoy barrier is Texas ‘waging war’ in response to an invasion!” George Mason University, Law Professor Ilya Somin refutes this absurd legal argument in sharp detail, here and here. Nor is this a novel argument, multiple states were laughed out of court in the 90’s trying to claim the same war powers against migrants under this invasion clause. At the time, the 2nd Circuit court clearly defined the section, writing: “In order for the state to be afforded the protection of the Invasion Clause, it must be exposed to armed hostility from another political entity, such as another state or foreign country that is intending to overthrow the state’s government.” The notion that desperate families fleeing for their lives seeking legal entry through the asylum system rises to that definition exposes this defense as the crackpot white nationalism it truly is.
COMBATING THE NARRATIVE: Usurping established federal authority to construct a war barrier on one of the nation’s top allies’ territory to prevent desperate families access to the legal asylum process with a debunked legal theory that turns on a white nationalist conspiracy theory that has inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks, doesn’t sound great. But Gov. Abbott’s staked out position here has the support of his party as he is lighting the way on this horrifically dark path they are set to charge down. The layers of dumb stacked on the layers of extremism does, however, leave Gov. Abbott and his Republican allies exposed to harsh criticism and pushback.
Lying about fentanyl to exploit violent rhetoric for short-term political gain:
As Republicans escalate their nativist rhetoric where the violence is the point, misleading assertions about the fentanyl crisis remain their core defense. It is a multifaceted and urgent crisis that a war with Mexico would only make demonstrably worse, but this absurd and dangerous notion is exactly where Republicans have positioned themselves. Greg Sargent takes on the Republican flirtation with a war with Mexico in a column in the Washington Post this week that is definitely worth a read. Commenting on a David Frum Atlantic piece on the topic Sargent writes, “such talk addresses a political problem for Republicans. Huge numbers of the opioid epidemic’s victims are rural and White, and a broader domestic crackdown might demonize or criminalize many GOP constituents; threatening Mexico instead spins a tale of ‘virtuous middle-Americans beset by alien villains.’” The fentanyl crisis is not an immigration issue. And false claims of “open borders” and opposition to expanding legal pathways only serves the cartels. Facts and common sense policy won’t stop Republicans from continuing to confuse the issue to exploit the real fears and pain with coded racist appeals, courting ethnic political violence in the process because they think it's a political winner. But their ugly politics are built in opposition to factual reality and offer no real solutions leaving what they see as a strength open to being flipped into a liability with the right combination of solutions and vocal pushback.
COMBATING THE NARRATIVE: Republicans prolong the fentanyl crisis by falsely blaming immigrants as the cause. Their strategic racist politics here harm the very communities they purport to champion with false promises in selfish pursuit of power. A response from Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) from back in February in the first House Judiciary Committee has stuck with me. “There is a difference between the facts and the rhetoric, between wanting to solve these problems or just trying to make people afraid of them,” Rep. Dean said, framing the essential problem of the GOP’s approach to the fentanyl crisis. She is empathetic and personal to the very real carnage wrought by the fentanyl, but Rep. Dean is also biting in her criticism of those who look to exploit the crisis for political advantage and to distract from the urgent need for solutions.
While exacerbating an ongoing domestic terror threat, Republicans overhype a terror threat at the border:
There continues the steady push of the nativist narrative that misleadingly fearmongers about a supposed threat of terrorists crossing the border. While politicians and pundits peddle the “invasion” conspiracy theory, which actually exacerbates a real terror, they fearmonger about the numbers of those apprehended who appear on the terrorist watch list. Yes, there are individuals on the terrorist watch list who are intercepted at the U.S. borders, but there are some key facts to keep in mind. First and foremost, the numbers that are given are people who have been intercepted by CBP, a fact that is more indicative of the department doing its job than a conspiratorial threat. Assertions to the contrary are purely speculative fearmongering premised on the incompetence of the CBP. The most individuals intercepted by CBP on the list was in FY 2019 under the Trump administration, and as has been the case since FY2017, most of those identified are along the northern, not the southern border. And while there has been an uptick of individuals apprehended in between ports of entry, "It’s likely that 95%+ people who are flagged on the watchlist are ex-rebels from Colombia, not international terrorists," wrote American Immigration Council's Aaron Reichlin Melnick. While internally diminishing the threat, DHS has repeatedly outlined that the terrorist threat landscape has shifted, noting that threats from foreign terrorists still exist, but the greater threat comes from violent domestic extremists.
COMBATING THE NARRATIVE: This is a more difficult nativist narrative to combat that requires some space and nuance that isn’t likely to fit into a sound bite, but the facts are critical in this national security context. Stripped of context and weighted for maximum fear, some warning about a terrorist threat at the border is likely to make it to the debate stage next week and will be an indication of a security perspective stuck decades in the past or one that doesn’t take the security issue seriously enough to think beyond cheap and cynical politics.
POLITICS UPDATES
President: The upcoming Republican Presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, next week hosted by Fox News, won’t be a regular debate about agendas to improve the country but a forum of extremist rhetoric and conspiracy theories. Six years ago, Trump opened the door to the racists and neo-Nazis marching the street chanting white nationalist slogans about the great replacement conspiracy theory. Next week those same ideas will be paraded on stage in what will likely be the largest venue of the great replacement theory yet. And xenophobic misinformation will play a prominent role in the debate, regardless of the topics outlined by the moderators. Needless to say, on immigration, the candidates will be driven by politics over solutions. None of the Republican approaches would advance real solutions or move us closer to the full-scale overhaul and modernize our immigration system needs – or even greater management or control of the southern border. All of it is designed to keep a sense of crisis involving non-white immigrants in the headlines. It’s all politics and keeping the GOP base animated and inflamed.
GOP hypocrisy: With Trump’s fourth indictment coming down this week, it seems like a good time for a reminder of the multi-state criminal conspiracy around the many undocumented workers Trump relied upon for his hotel and resort business. Covered on the front page of the New York Times and extensively elsewhere, the notorious xenophobe’s potential criminally here is also a reminder of his rank hypocrisy and outstanding liability.
WA-03: The Washington Republican Party has endorsed the white nationalist connected Joe Kent as he seeks a rematch against Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. After a surprise primary win against Republican incumbent, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Kent’s extremism and vocal election denialism turned the race into a battleground race he lost, flipping the seat to the Democrats. Kent was the poster boy for embracing extremism and white nationalism costing Republicans wins at the ballot box. But it looks may again be indicative of Kent Republicans doubling down instead of learning lessons.
WEEKLY NATIVIST NARRATIVE STATS
Of the 400 GOP Twitter accounts we track, this week, they sent:
204 original tweets peddling anti-immigrant attacks mentioning “border”
34 original tweets about “open borders,” with Vivek Ramaswamy tweet having the most reach with 14.2M Views, 10.6K Retweets, and 64.9K Likes.
13 original tweets that used “Biden Border Crisis” with Ted Cruz tweet having the most reach with 48.5K Views, 56 Retweets, and 346 Likes.
32 original tweets that mentioned both “fentanyl” and “border” with Marsha Blackburn tweet having the most reach with 287.6K views, 588 Retweets and 2,612 Likes.
