(NewsNation) — A convoy of protesters who have deemed themselves “God’s Army” will make its way to the southern border this week as tensions rise between Texas and the Biden administration.
The “Take Our Border Back” convoy will leave from Norfolk, Virginia, on Monday, where organizers expect hundreds of people to participate.
Convoy organizers say their mission is to stand up against “globalists” who they claim are conspiring to keep the U.S. border open and allow illegal immigrants to cross from Mexico.
“This is a biblical, monumental moment that’s been put together by God,” one of the organizers said on a recent planning call, as reported by Vice. Another said, “We are besieged on all sides by dark forces of evil.”
After Virginia, the group is expected to drive through the southeast with stopovers in Florida and Louisiana before arriving in Texas. The group plans to attend three separate rallies Feb. 3 in Texas, Arizona and California, according to its website.
The group is calling on active and retired law enforcement, military, veterans, elected officials and other “LAW ABIDING, freedom-loving Americans” to join the cause. Their goal is to “shed light on the obvious dangers posed by wide open Southern borders,” according to a news release dated Jan. 12.
According to Vice, convoy leaders say they want to send a message to the Biden administration to “secure our borders” as the White House and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott feud over border enforcement measures.
Abbott, a Republican, said this week the battle “is not over” following the Supreme Court’s ruling to allow Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border while a lawsuit over the wire continues.
Texas sued the federal government after Border Patrol agents began cutting down the wire, and the justices sided with the Biden administration.
On Thursday, 25 Republican governors released a statement of solidarity with Abbott for “stepping up to protect American citizens from history levels of illegal immigration, deadly drugs like fentanyl and terrorists entering our country.”
They also criticized President Joe Biden’s border policies, stating the U.S. remains vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration. Figures released Friday by Customs and Border Protection show there were 302,034 encounters at the southern border in December, a record monthly high.
The Supreme Court ruling and Texas’ response have led to online calls for civil war and secession, Vice reported.
A fundraiser on GiveSendGo using the same logo on the convoy’s website has raked in more than $66,000.
“Once willing to die defending this country, now willing to die protecting my family from what this country has become,” one donor said, according to Vice. Another wrote, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
A convoy organizer told Vice the rallies are supposed to be peaceful but acknowledged not everyone in the group may be on the same page.
“We realize we may have infiltrators. There may be some people who try to subvert us, who jump in the convoy — provocateurs. We may have some, and they’re going to have to deal with our security team, they’ll be asked to leave,” Scotty Saks told the news outlet.