海角大神

Telma De La Rosa鈥檚 family immigrated to the United States more than 100 years ago, after being driven off their land in Chihuahua during the Mexican Revolution. The family settled in El Paso and worked as accountants and business owners, but mostly as soldiers. Her father served in the Korean War and her uncle, who was awarded the Silver Star, fought and died in Italy during World War II.

In the Chihuahuita neighborhood where her family lived, a street is named after her uncle.

鈥淲e are proud Americans. We love our country; we really do,鈥� says Ms. De La Rosa, a retired social services worker. 鈥淪o to be questioned about it, it鈥檚 hard. To go back where you came from, where do you want us to go back?鈥�

One source of comfort for her and others is that听鈥� even after last weekend鈥檚 deadly mass shooting听鈥� they can still tell themselves that El Paso is safe. The alleged gunman had no ties to this 400-year-old city on the banks of the Rio Grande. He drove more than 600 miles from a Dallas suburb to commit the attack. El Paso has been, for years now, statistically one of the safest cities in the country 鈥� but now some residents are questioning whether they are safe from the rest of America.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like we鈥檙e the antithesis of how a lot of people in the heartland, where I grew up, view us,鈥� says Bill Clark, who grew up in Jackson, Tennessee, and lived in several Southern cities before settling in El Paso in 1993. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably the most welcoming city one could want to live in.鈥�

听鈥淚鈥檓 not worried about myself,鈥� he adds. But, 鈥渨hen I know that someone drove hundreds of miles to target my neighbors 鈥� people in my community, I worry about my community.鈥�

Twenty-two people have died as a result of the Aug. 3 attack, about as many murders as the city usually gets in a year. The alleged gunman 鈥� Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old from Allen, Texas 鈥� is believed to have posted a 鈥渕anifesto鈥� on social media minutes before the massacre that said it 鈥渋s a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.鈥�

Fifteen of the victims were American citizens, while seven were Mexican citizens. (The Walmart is one of the closest big department stores to the border, and popular with day-shoppers crossing from Ciudad Ju谩rez.)

Texas history is rife with examples of violence toward Hispanics, dating as far back as when the state was a backwater province belonging to Mexico. But at a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric is reaching a boiling point, when a U.S. citizen is held in a border detention facility for weeks, and when the city itself has been the focal point of overcrowding and questions about the treatment of migrant families and children seeking asylum, that history is echoing in ways that El Pasoans, who love their tightknit, peaceful city and its more than 400 years of multicultural heritage, find unexpected.

In recent decades, El Paso has grown both in size and as a safe and modern city. Nicknamed 鈥淓l Chuco鈥� by locals, after zoot suit-wearing Mexican American 鈥淧achucos鈥� from the 1940s, it is a world leader in water conservation, it鈥檚 the home town of award-winning singer Khalid, and it has been one of the safest cities in the country since the early 1990s.

President Donald Trump arrived in El Paso Wednesday to offer comfort after Saturday鈥檚 mass shooting. 鈥淚 am concerned about the rise of any group of hate, I don鈥檛 like it, any group of hate, whether it鈥檚 white supremacy, whether it鈥檚 any other kind of supremacy, whether it鈥檚 antifa, whether it鈥檚 any group of hate, I am very concerned about it and I鈥檒l do something about it,鈥� the president said, speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before his trip. When asked by a reporter whether his rhetoric has contributed to violence, he said, 鈥淣o, I don鈥檛 think my rhetoric has at all. I think my rhetoric brings people together. Our country is doing incredibly well. China is not doing well.鈥�

But some residents interviewed said they can鈥檛 help but think of a rally two weeks ago when his supporters chanted 鈥渟end her back鈥� about Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The chant was inspired by a tweet in which the president told four nonwhite congresswomen, three of whom were born in America and all of whom are U.S. citizens, that they should 鈥済o back鈥� to the 鈥渃rime-infested鈥� countries they came from.

鈥淲e love America鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be afraid,鈥� Ms. De La Rosa says. But it鈥檚 difficult when your deep ties to the country of your birth are being challenged, if not dismissed out of hand.

鈥淚f your ethnicity was being hunted in a place, you wouldn鈥檛 feel comfortable about it,鈥� she says.

鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate to live here. We love America just as much as anyone else, if not more,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲hy do we have to defend ourselves though? Why do we have to say, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 an American. I love this country鈥�? Why do we have to prove anything?鈥�

For centuries, El Paso and Ciudad Ju谩rez were one city known as El Paso del Norte. It wasn鈥檛 until 1850, more than a decade after Texas declared its independence from Mexico, that the new border split the city in half.

By then, Tejanos in Texas 鈥� those descended from the region鈥檚 Spanish settlers 鈥� had been facing harassment and violence from Anglo settlers for years. Juan Segu铆n, a Tejano defender of the Alamo, fled to Mexico in 1842 out of fear for his safety. The early 20th century saw the indiscriminate killing of Mexican Americans in the Texas borderlands, scholars have recently uncovered, including the killing of 15 unarmed men and boys in the village of Porvenir a century ago.

When Clarissa Hernandez鈥檚 grandmother came to America decades ago, her first job was in a peanut factory. She was on the assembly line, picking out the bad peanuts as they trundled past, earning enough money to move into a home in a quiet neighborhood in northeast El Paso.

Ms. Hernandez and her grandmother were idling away a peaceful Saturday morning a few hundred yards away from the Walmart when the gunman opened fire.

If it wasn鈥檛 for her slow start to the day, Ms. Hernandez would have been there buying cases of water. Two days later, she is there with her young son, handing out bottles of water to first responders and the steady stream of El Pasoans coming to pay their respects at a small memorial.

鈥淚 feel not safe,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 feel that everywhere I go now I鈥檒l have to look at who鈥檚 there, what鈥檚 going on.鈥�

鈥淚 still believe in people鈥�

As the sun set over El Paso Monday evening, dozens of people gather outside the Immaculate Baptist Church two blocks from the Cielo Vista Mall for a vigil. Pastor J.C. Rico leads prayers in both English and Spanish.

After the vigil, Rosie Rico, the pastor鈥檚 wife, says they wanted it 鈥渢o communicate that there鈥檚 hope.鈥� A second-generation Mexican American, she still feels safe in El Paso.

鈥淚 refuse to let that change the way we live, change the way we are,鈥� she says.

Ms. De La Rosa has a similar optimism about the city, and about the country as a whole.

鈥淚 still believe in people, and the goodness of people,鈥� she says.

鈥淲e are proud Americans. We love our country. We love El Paso. We love Texas,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲e will overcome this.鈥�

That spirit has been on display for a national audience this year, as hundreds of thousands of migrants 鈥� mostly families and children from Central America 鈥� have traveled to the city seeking asylum in the U.S. With immigration officers and facilities overwhelmed, local residents, nonprofits, and churches have been working around the clock to house, feed, and clothe the migrants.

For Mr. Clark, that context is what seems to be so unsettling about last weekend鈥檚 massacre.

El Paso 鈥渉as opened its hearts and its arms to the migrants,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure there鈥檚 people out there in today鈥檚 world who don鈥檛 like that.鈥�

鈥淲e are, and have always been, one of the safest cities in America, and it is because we don鈥檛 just tolerate or respect our differences but we fully embrace them,鈥� Democratic presidential candidate Beto O鈥橰ourke told reporters at an event Monday morning. While acknowledging that 鈥渢here is a level of intolerance and hatred and racism that has not been seen in a very long time,鈥� Mr. O鈥橰ourke said it was precisely because of El Paso鈥檚 character that it could help lead the way. 鈥淭hough we bore the brunt of this hatred and this violence, we also hold the answers for the way forward.鈥�

Daniel Aguilar, a third-generation American who attended the vigil and says he has been feeling 鈥渓ost鈥� and 鈥渟peechless鈥� since the attack, put it a different way.

鈥淚 feel he was disgusted by us, I guess,鈥� he says, referring to the gunman.

鈥淚t sounds like he was not getting love,鈥� he adds, shaking his head. 鈥淗e would have got love from us. We would have given him love.鈥�