EAGLE PASS, Texas – The Texas National Guard has taken control of a public park in Eagle Pass that has been overrun with migrants flooding across the U.S. southern border. It is an effort to decrease the surge of illegal immigration into Texas and a move likely to significantly increase tensions between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the federal government. As part of the move, Border Patrol agents are also being blocked from entering the area since they have been ordered to undermine the effort of Texas by removing barriers, according to reports.
Texas began restricting federal officials’s access into Shelby Park in Eagle Pass this week. The state said they are taking control since federal immigration officials “perpetuate illegal crossings,” the Daily Wire reported.
The bold action comes as the Biden administration has tried to remove barbed wire put in place by Texas in the park to prevent illegal border crossings.
“The Texas National Guard has maintained a presence with security points and temporary barrier in Shelby Park since 2021. The current posture is to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area,” the Texas Military Department said in a statement.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin noted that Texas had set up razor wire and fences at the park “to block the area off from the public and federal government.”
According to Gov. Abbott, the desperate efforts were due to President Joe Biden’s handling of the border crisis. The governor said his state was going to make it clear to caravans of foreign nationals headed to the United States that Texas would be a challenging place to enter, the Daily Wire reported.
“Texas is holding the line at our southern border with miles of additional razor wire and anti-climb barriers to deter and repel the record-high levels of illegal immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open border policies,” spokeswoman Renea Eze said, the Austin-Statesman reported.
“Instead of enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country,” Eze noted.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a legal filing with the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas began restricting federal officials access to the park on Wednesday. In the filing, DHS is asking SCOTUS to immediately rule against Texas and give full authority over Shelby Park to the federal government.
“Beginning around 8:00 p.m., Central Time, on January 10, 2024, Border Patrol was denied access to an approximately 2.5 mile stretch of border, inclusive of Shelby Park and stretching south. Texas National Guard (TNG) established fencing and concertina wire, and is blocking access to Shelby Park and blocking entrances through federally owned and maintained border barriers with armed soldiers,” the filing, part of the DHS lawsuit against Texas over the barbed wire, said.
Meanwhile, impeachment proceedings began earlier this week against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer believes Mayorkas will be found to have committed malfeasance, Law Officer reported.
Emmer believes the most damning pieces of evidence against Mayorkas include the “unrestrained” flow of migrants crossing the southern border illegally, allowing millions of them “to be dispersed throughout” the country, which has exacerbated the fentanyl epidemic.
