El Paso congresswoman says Trump 'not welcome' in the city after mass shooting
WASHINGTON – Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, had a message for President Donald Trump.
The Texas Democrat, who represents El Paso, the site of a recent mass shooting that left at least 20 people dead, said that Trump was "not welcome" in El Paso if he came to visit because of his inflammatory rhetoric about Latinos and immigrants.
The death toll in the El Paso shooting increased to 22 on Monday. There are now 24 injured.
El Paso police said the shooter published a "manifesto" before his shooting that had anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric, and authorities were investigating the attack as a potential hate crime. The suspect is a 21-year-old white man from Allen, Texas.
"Words have consequences. The president has made my community and my people the enemy," said Escobar on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "He has told the country that we are people to be feared, people to be hated."
"I hope that [Trump] has the self-awareness to understand that we are in pain, and we are mourning, and we are doing the very best in our typical, graceful, El Paso way to be resilient," Escobar continued. "And so I would ask his staff and his team to consider the fact that his words and his actions have played a role in this."
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She added that Hispanic people "have been dehumanized by the president and his enablers" and that this was "one of the lowest points in American history."
Lawmakers have called for action on gun control in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, though they differ on the kinds of legislation. The House of Representatives has passed several bills to expand background checks for guns, but the Senate has not taken any action on the bills.
Trump suggested in a Monday morning tweet that he wanted to link stronger background checks to "immigration reform," though he provided no details about how the two issues would be linked in legislation.
Trump is expected to visit the sites of the shootings later this week. The Associated Press reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued advisories of VIP travel to El Paso and Dayton on Wednesday.
Contributing: David Jackson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: El Paso Walmart shooting: Veronica Escobar says Trump not welcome
