AUSTIN, Texas — The Biden administration has threatened Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) with legal action if Texas does not relinquish control of land the state National Guard commandeered in the border town of Eagle Pass last week.
The Department of Homeland Security sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Sunday ordering Texas to reopen a 2.5-mile strip of border land to federal law enforcement, whom it locked out in an unprecedented move by the state to overtake the federal government’s operations at an international boundary.
“We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area,” DHS General Counsel Jonathan Meyer wrote late Sunday, according to a copy of the letter the Washington Examiner obtained.
“If you have not confirmed by the end of day on January 17, 2024, that Texas will cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access to the U.S.-Mexico border, we will refer the matter to the Department of Justice for appropriate action and consider all other options available to restore Border Patrol’s access to the border,” the Biden administration official warned.
The DHS told Paxton that the state’s actions since last Wednesday have “impeded operations” of federal law enforcement and run counter to the Constitution.
The letter also referenced a fatal incident that occurred Friday night in which three immigrants, including two children, died while attempting to cross the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, into Eagle Pass.
“Texas’s failure to provide access to the border persists even in instances of imminent danger to life and safety,” Meyer wrote. “Texas has demonstrated that even in the most exigent circumstances, it will not allow Border Patrol access to the border to conduct law enforcement and emergency response activities.”
A day earlier, the White House issued a statement that said the state’s decision to lock out Border Patrol made it responsible for the deaths of immigrants who drowned late Friday while attempting to wade across the Rio Grande.
“On Friday night, a woman and two children drowned near Eagle Pass, and Texas officials blocked U.S. Border Patrol from attempting to provide emergency assistance,” White House assistant press secretary Angelo Fernandez Hernandez wrote in an email Sunday morning. “While we continue to gather facts about the circumstances of these tragic deaths, one thing is clear: Governor Abbott’s political stunts are cruel, inhumane, and dangerous. U.S. Border Patrol must have access to the border to enforce our laws.”
The state’s military department said its personnel on the border did not observe immigrants in distress in the river, but it did not deny refusing to allow the Border Patrol agents into the fenced area to rescue the immigrants. Border Patrol had been contacted by Mexican authorities that immigrants were struggling to cross the river and in need of help.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, Texas sealed off city parkland and a city-owned golf course in Eagle Pass from federal employees, including law enforcement. Eagle Pass leaders described it as an unforeseen “takeover” of city land to fence out federal law enforcement from the international boundary, where state personnel have struggled to turn away illegal border crossers because Border Patrol agents cut state-laid concertina wire in order to take people into custody. Many illegal immigrants are then released into the U.S. after being arrested rather than removed from the country, infuriating Republicans like Abbott.
The Justice Department responded to the city land seizure by filing a new memo Friday morning that said Abbott was barring federal agents from doing their jobs and warned that they would not be able to respond to emergency situations as immigrants tread the rough Rio Grande. Border Patrol agents nationwide rescue tens of thousands of immigrants crossing the border each year, according to federal data.
Photos taken by the DOJ and included in the memo show Texas National Guard members guarding entrances to the land where Border Patrol agents would normally pass through to apprehend immigrants who come across the Rio Grande and onto the riverbank.
Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze defended the state in an email to the Washington Examiner on Friday, hours before the woman and two children died trying to cross the river.
“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,” Eze said. “Instead of enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden Administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country. Texas 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.”
Around 9 p.m. CT Friday, a group of six migrants attempted to wade across the river from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, into Eagle Pass when they went into distress, according to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX).
Border Patrol agents in the area were aware of the immigrants in distress despite being fenced out from the area since Wednesday, and agents tried to contact the Texas officials inside the fenced area to alert state authorities.
When agents could not reach the Texas Military Department, the Texas National Guard, or the Texas Department of Public Safety command post by phone, they went to a vehicle entry point outside Shelby Park, where Abbott had seized city land and kicked out federal employees this week.
“However, Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant access to the migrants, even in the event of an emergency, and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,” Cuellar said in a statement.
Cuellar was notified Saturday morning that three of the six had drowned and that Mexican authorities on the border had recovered the bodies.
A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed the incident in a statement late Saturday.
“Tragically, a woman and two children drowned last night in the Shelby Park area of Eagle Pass, which was commandeered by the State of Texas earlier this week,” the DHS official wrote in an email.
“In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area,” DHS said. “The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks. The State of Texas should stop interfering with the U.S. Border Patrol’s enforcement of U.S. law.”
CBP, which oversees the Border Patrol, said it was “gravely concerned by actions that prevent the U.S. Border Patrol from performing their essential missions of arresting individuals who enter the United States unlawfully and providing humanitarian response to individuals in need.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The governor’s office has declined to comment on the drownings and referred the Washington Examiner on Saturday afternoon to the Texas Military Department, which has not responded to an email.
Abbott and Paxton’s offices did not respond to a request for comment.
