FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Texas Republicans are recruiting immigrants minutes after they become citizens

“We want them to know Republicans welcome legal immigrants.”

EL PASO, Texas — What do you do if you're the county Republican Party in El Paso, where the population is Hispanic and President Trump is wildly unpopular?

You try to recruit new American citizens into the GOP minutes after they take the oath of citizenship. Get 'em while they're fresh.

On Wednesday, 947 new citizens hailing from 49 different countries took the oath in the El Paso Coliseum just a few miles from the U.S. southern border. Most of the oath-takers have lived in the U.S. for years, and the vast majority of them came here from Mexico.

"So often the impression is the Republican Party is anti-immigrant," said Bob Peña, executive director of the El Paso GOP. "No, we’re anti illegal immigrant."

VICE News followed the El Paso GOP as it tried to make the Republican case to the new citizens — and found themselves trying to make the party of Trump appealing to Mexican-Americans.

This segment originally aired August 16, 2018 on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

Watch Next: Meet the Trump fans of Q-Anon