Last weekend, a caravan calling itself “God’s Army” traveled to a private ranch in Quemado, Texas. The property, called “Cornerstone Children’s Ranch,” is owned by Cornerstone Children’s Ranch Inc. and is a registered 501(c)3, which means all donations are tax-exempt.
The only two employees at Cornerstone are Steven and Lorraine Mercer, who, according to tax filings, receive no salary. While Lorraine Mercer told USA Today that “her organization has been providing underprivileged children along the border with food, clothing and medical supplies for more than 25 years from that location,” based on the website, the bulk of the ranch appears to be reserved for religious conferences and other such gatherings. To wit:
An evidence-based, unashamedly and purely mainline Christian retreat experience that is focused on encountering the majestic embrace of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
We provide a Christian Retreat Center where life changing decisions for both adults and youths can be made in a wholesome environment, away from the temptations of the world. We serve as a refueling station for Christians by providing clean sleeping and meeting facilities as well as delicious meals to all. We will provide a refreshing retreat experience for all guests who come, and a quiet and safe environment for groups up to 25 people.
It's not clear to me whether Cornerstone accepts money (or donations) for these services nor whether “God’s Army” paid the Mercers for the privilege of using their property. Anson Bills, who runs a quasi-militia called the Texas Independence Project out of Cornerstone, said that he invited God’s Army to the ranch. (The “organizer” of the convoy is generally said to be Bill Chambers, a man who claims to have been a Green Beret although Robert Agee – who runs a company that produces far-right banners with messages like “Fauci is a Fraud” – did most of the talking.) Again, any financial arrangement between Bills and the Mercers is completely opaque.
I’ve previously described Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to increase state border enforcement – which, despite over $10 billion investment in “border security,” has led only to an increase in border crossings in Texas – as a “slow-motion secession.” Since 2020, Abbott has struggled with his far-right street cred, and this issue has provided the credibility and momentum among the MAGA set that he so desperately wanted. It’s somewhat interesting to me that he has done so through a display of excessive state control even though it was this very same state control that enraged the far-right when it came to COVID restrictions.
The slow-motion secession has unleashed more than Abbott may have anticipated. On far-right message boards, I still see skepticism about Abbott’s intentions alongside full-throated approval of the anti-immigrant sentiment he has unleashed.
And, so we come to God’s Army, which fell far short of the 700,00 predicted vehicles, but did at least make it to somewhere near the Rio Grande.
Several excellent journalists provided great dispatches from the rally. Based on what I saw online, there was the usual xenophobic rhetoric about an “invasion” by “military-aged men,” which at this point is a standard GOP talking point. One speaker provided a weeping speech in which he told (wholly unsupported) stories of horrific rapes of women by cartel members. There was talk of January 6 as a “false flag,” the “plandemic,” the harms of the COVID vaccine, and the Democratic party’s participation in widespread child trafficking. All of this was overlaid with intense religiosity, represented not just by the wooden cross on the stage, but also by the appeals to a higher power and a chosen people. (“God’s Army” pretty much says it all. I thought that this dispatch in Texas Monthly by Bekah McNeel did an excellent job digging into the religious background of the event.)
That weekend also happened to be the same as the National Sheriffs Association winter conference, which might account for the lack of sheriffs present at the various rallies in Arizona, Texas, and California.
The exception was Sheriff Brad Coe of Kinney County – less than an hour from Cornerstone – who stayed behind to welcome the convoy.
Certainly, the U.S.-Mexico border was a pressing topic for the sheriffs in Washington, D.C. The NSA has been one of the major backers of increased surveillance at the border. (As Border Chronicle writers Melissa Del Bosque and Todd Miller repeatedly emphasize, the surveillance apparatus in the borderlands is vastly more expansive and powerful than any militia who might patrol the ranchlands around the Rio Grande.)
Some members of the NSA also met with FBI Director Christopher Wray, which led at least one sheriff to hold a 30-minute press conference in which he claimed that terrorist attacks were imminent. He warned that the federal government was so overwhelmed, it was up to local governments to protect people from everything from cyber attacks to potential terrorist events. Watch it here. It has over 100K views.
I believe you want "secession", not "succession", in your description of Abbot's border behavior (2nd and 3rd paragraphs after the blockquote).
If this really is a place that children and young adults can get food, water, shelter and affection then those who give that to them they would have to think of them as gods.
And I would draw the conclusion that the ones on stage also think of themselves as gods. Doing gods work “Gods Army” I heard that before. Call it what it is. Leave Christ out of it. He would not be happy.