- In parts of Texas, vigilante groups are targeting asylum seekers by detaining them while armed with weapons.
- The Department of Homeland Security released a bulletin earlier this week that said homegrown violent extremists may be targeting migrants and other groups, fueled in part by conspiracy theories.
- Many of the online posts by vigilante groups and white nationalists center on what is known as the “great replacement” theory.
Groups of violent, white-majority vigilante groups are increasingly patrolling areas along the U.S.-Mexico border, posing a risk to migrants and people of color, according to local watchdog groups.
In parts of Texas, vigilante groups are targeting asylum seekers by detaining them while armed with weapons and using anti-immigrant rhetoric such as “invasion” to describe migrants at the border, said Kate Huddleston, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Texas. She pointed to Operation Lone Star, an initiative launched by Gov. Greg Abbott to bolster border enforcement with National Guardsmen, as adding fuel to the racial tensions often driving these incidents.