The tension between the state of Texas and the federal government over the border escalated on Thursday when the Texas National Guard seized control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, denying entry to federal authorities. The seizure followed Governor Greg Abbott signing an emergency order granting the state guard “full control” of the park, over the objections of local officials.
According to two U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News, the Texas National Guard is now barring federal U.S. Border Patrol from entering the park, which runs along the bank of the Rio Grande. “They are denying entry to Border Patrol agents to conduct our duties,” one official said, questioning “what authority (Texas officials) have over the federal government.”
Eagle Pass has become a focal point of Abbott’s crackdown on illegal border crossings through Texas. Last year, the state government deployed controversial river barriers down a 1,000-foot stretch of a portion of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. On Thursday, the Justice Department filed a complaint to the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the barriers, and asking the court to intervene against “an escalation of the State’s measures to block Border Patrol’s ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies.”
The Biden administration sued Texas last week over recent legislation signed by Abbott that grants local law enforcement the authority to arrest migrants and allow judges to order deportations. The administration argues that the law goes against constitutional mandates granting the federal government authority over border enforcement.
In a video posted on Facebook, Eagle Pass Mayor Ronaldo Salinas said that he received a phone call on Thursday morning from Texas DPS informing him that via an order from Abbott “they are taking full control, custody, of Shelby Park.” The mayor filmed a blockade that had been erected at one of the entrances to the area.
“That is not a decision that we agreed to. This is not something that we wanted. This is not something that we asked for as a city,” Salinas added. “Our legal team is looking into what’s going on, just to make sure that everything is being done in a legal manner.”
Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott, told the Texas Tribune that the state “will continue to deploy Texas National Guard soldiers, DPS troopers, and more barriers, utilizing every tool and strategy to respond to President Biden’s ongoing border crisis.”
On Thursday, Abbott was subject to widespread criticism when asked where the line was for him in terms of border enforcement mechanisms he suggested the only reason Texas is not shooting migrants crossing the border “is because of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder.”
Shooting unarmed migrants is, of course, highly illegal, and the governor’s comments were seen as a reaffirmation of the brutality with which Texas state officials regard asylum seekers.
