McALLEN, Texas — Texas’ refusal to allow Border Patrol agents into a park along the U.S.-Mexico border is another sign in the widening rift between the state and the Biden administration over immigration.
For nearly a week starting Wednesday, Texas has denied entry to Border Patrol agents around Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, which has become one of the busiest spots on the southern U.S. border for migrants crossing illegally from Mexico.
Tensions increased this weekend after Mexican authorities recovered the bodies of three migrants in the Rio Grande, across from Eagle Pass. U.S. authorities and Texas officials have provided varying accounts and timelines of the response. The Justice Department acknowledged in a legal filing Monday that the migrants died before Border Patrol agents attempted to gain entry to Shelby Park.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said Texas will no longer allow Border Patrol agents on that property. The move has deepened a broader dispute with President Joe Biden over illegal border crossings and his administration’s efforts to halt Texas’ rollout of aggressive border measures. , including floating barriers in the Rio Grande and a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants on illegal entry charges.
Here are some things to know about the park and the broader dispute:
The approximately 20-acre park in Eagle Pass extends to the banks of the Rio Grande. The Texas border city lies in a 115-mile stretch of North America where a total solar eclipse will be visible in April, and has planned a festival in the park for the event.
Last week, Texas officials took control of the park as part of Abbott’s growing border mission known as Operation Lone Star. The mayor of Eagle Pass said the measure caught the city by surprise and questioned the timing as there have been fewer crossings in recent weeks.
Shortly after the fence went up, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order Texas to allow Border Patrol agents back into Shelby Park. The U.S. government has said Border Patrol agents used the park to monitor the river and launch boats into it.
As of Wednesday, the court had not yet acted on the request.
During a campaign stop last week, Abbott defended Texas by restricting access to the park, expressing frustration with migrants entering illegally through Eagle Pass and federal agents loading them onto buses.
“We said, ‘We’ve had it. We won’t let this happen again,” Abbott said.
The dispute over access to Shelby Park escalated Saturday when U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat whose district includes the Texas border, accused the state of preventing Border Patrol agents from doing their work after three migrants, including two children, drowned near the Eagle Pass.
The Texas Military Department has said claims that the state stood in the way of Border Patrol agents rescuing the victims are “completely inaccurate.” It said Border Patrol agents had relayed that Mexican authorities had already recovered two of the bodies when they requested access to Shelby Park. The department said Border Patrol specifically requested entry to pursue two other migrants believed to be with the victims.
In a filing with the Supreme Court on Monday, the Justice Department argued that the Border Patrol could have at least assisted its Mexican counterparts if the agents had had access to the area.
On Wednesday, the state again disputed U.S. government reports of the drownings, arguing before the Supreme Court that Border Patrol had largely withdrawn from the area more than two months earlier.
A new law in Texas, set to take effect in March, would give all law enforcement agencies in the state the ability to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally and give judges the power to order them to leave the US. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit, arguing that the law would overstep the mark. the authority of the federal government over immigration.
Texas is also fighting in court to keep a floating barrier of buoys on the Rio Grande to prevent migrants from crossing. In a victory for the state Wednesday, a federal appeals court in New Orleans revoked an earlier order requiring Texas to move the barrier.
Texas has also been ferrying migrants from the border to Democratic-run cities in the US, with some trying to stop or divert the arrivals.
___ Weber reported from Austin, Texas.
