Governor Abbott characterized the victims of a mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas as illegal immigrants and critics lost their minds. Feelings over facts are the priorities these days in some quarters.

This is Texas and some thin-skinned people are going to have to buck up when it comes to a hot-button issue like illegal immigration. Texas is on the frontlines of this battle and Governor Abbott is leading the fight to secure the Texas-Mexico border as much as he can. Texas taxpayers have spent billions of dollars on securing the border. State funding for border security grew from $110 million in 2008-2009 to $3 billion for the 2022-2023 budget cycle. When the bad guy is in this country (and state) illegally and his victims were illegal aliens, don’t be surprised if they are identified as such by state officials, including the governor.

I updated a post on Sunday when it was reported that the shooter was in the country illegally, having been deported several times in the past. I noted in the post that the media has a bad habit of not bothering to report on that kind of detail because that is their agenda. The media pushes an agenda that open borders are compassionate. They are not, as we see with Biden’s border crisis. A porous border is both a humanitarian crisis and a national security crisis.

The usual suspects took to their fainting couches upon an accurate characterization of the people involved in this tragedy. Secretary Mayorkas showed his usual profile in courage. (sarcasm)

A Texas man killed five of his neighbors execution-style, then fled the scene.

Biden DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says he "can't comment" on reports the man is in the country illegally. pic.twitter.com/UsjWhPMRou

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 1, 2023

Celebrity chef José Andrés responded to Abbott in a tweet: “nobody is illegal in heaven.”

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie was killed in Florida’s Parkland high school mass shooting in 2018, tweeted at Abbott: “On behalf of those like my daughter who are victims of gun violence, F*** YOU!!!”

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough criticized Abbott on his show Monday morning.

“Maybe he’s part of this Christian nationalist movement, but what would Jesus do? You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to know: not that. What a dreadful, shameful thing,” Scarborough said.

Talk about disgusting. Christian nationalist movement, Joe? What’s next, calling the governor a white supremacist? Remember when Scarborough used to seem somewhat normal?

Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke did his thing. It’s the gun, not the shooter, right, Beto? Beto will stand on any victim in order to trend on Twitter.

Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones in San Jacinto County last night.

AR-15s are designed for one purpose: to kill people.

We either accept their continued sale as the price of living (and dying) in America, or we do the right thing & limit them to military use.

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) April 29, 2023

Actor George Takei had something to say because, well, he always does.

“This is despicable. I would have thought bringing up the immigration status of the innocent victims of this senseless violence would be beneath even you. But I was wrong,” George Takei, the “Star Trek” actor who lived with his parents in internment camps during World War II, wrote on Twitter.

So did a former politician and failed presidential candidate Julian Castro.

“Five human beings lost their lives and Greg Abbott insists on labeling them ‘illegal immigrants,'” Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, said.

Where was Castro’s concern for human dignity when his operative was busy starting a phony story about the Border Patrol agents on horseback whipping migrants crossing the Rio Grande River into Texas? Where do those agents go to get their lives back? Take a seat, Julian.

It’s unclear when the mass shooter entered the country illegally last. He was deported five times. We don’t know if his last illegal entry was during Biden’s border crisis or not but the fact is that the shooter entered his neighbor’s home and shot up the people inside. They didn’t stand a chance. The search continues for the gunman. The FBI is offering a cash reward for information leading to his capture and arrest, as is the governor.