McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A three-day rally for border security is scheduled to be held in the South Texas border town of McAllen this weekend, and it is drawing concern from some local citizens.
The “We Stand America” rally is planned for Friday through Sunday and is being hosted by several conservative, anti-illegal immigration groups, including Women Fighting for America, Veterans for America First, and Latinos for Trump, according to the Women Fighting For America’s website.
The rally is part of a “Take Action Tour” and will highlight border law enforcement, which organizers describe as “the essence of domestic security.” There also will be a Sunday “rolling car protest on the border,” the website says.
“The McAllen, Texas, event will focus on border law enforcement and the direct connection to election integrity from a Biblical worldview,” according to the We Stand America website.
Most listed speakers are from out of town, including former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan, who served under President Donald Trump, and retired Gen. Michael Flynn. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also is listed as a speaker.
Admission fees start at $10, and there are opportunities to sponsor military veterans and optional “caravan” tours to the border on Saturday. The event will be based at Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, according to the Payne Arena website.
Hidalgo is just a few miles from McAllen and borders the Mexican town of Reynosa.
Scott Nicol, of McAllen, said he is concerned about the gathering and the assembling of many from outside the area who openly oppose immigration.
“Have you looked at the craziness on their website?” Nicol told Border Report on Monday.
It’s “hate-filled right-wing word salad,” he said.
The We Stand America website says: “These illegals are beholden to their Marxist overlords. They get on the government dole, which is nothing other than redistributing your wealth to them. They are housed, fed, and transported across the country, again with government dollars (your dollars), tens of millions, reaching into the hundreds of millions, being funneled through Catholic Charities (who pretend destroying America is some kind of biblical imperative, that illegal immigrants have the same rights in a country that actual citizens have).”
Marianna Treviño-Wright, executive director of the National Butterfly Center, which is located on the banks of the Rio Grande in nearby Mission, Texas, told Border Report that she will ask her board of directors whether they want the center to remain open this weekend, or close it due to security fears.
Treviño-Wright said she is worried for the community, especially since the Texas Citrus Fiesta Parade of Oranges is scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Mission.
McAllen City Manager Roel “Roy” Rodriguez told Border Report he had no comment on the planned We Stand America rally. The event’s border tour is meeting in the parking lot of the city’s former convention center in McAllen.
Border Report also has reached out to the McAllen police chief. This story will be updated if additional information is received.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@borderreport.com.