Once the Uvalde gunman’s name was released, it took little time for xenophobia to rear its ugly head. On Tuesday, Tennessee nonprofit organization Code of Vets attempted to use Ramos’ case to support increased border security. “Did he cross the border illegally? Our nation has a serious national security crisis evolving. God help us,” they tweeted, with no context on Ramos’ immigration status. In an emphatic response, comedian-activist Amanda Seales cracked the mic on her Instagram page to highlight how thoughtless and, quite frankly, “deranged” it is for anyone to not bring up the only issue that needs immediate mitigating: gun violence. “Do you understand how sick you have to be at this moment to go there and not to, ‘why are guns so available to anyone?’ We are immersed in sickness, in sick people, who are deranged,” she said, calling those who espouse this xenophobic viewpoint as the real “national security crisis.” It should be noted that it was a border patrol agent who killed Ramos and is being heralded as a hero. With U.S. Customs and Border Protection heavy at the scene, it has also been reported that some undocumented families of children at the school were scared to stop by to even see if their child was safe.
