In a strongly-worded communication, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has demanded that the State of Texas grant access to the U.S.-Mexico border on land seized by the state in Eagle Pass.
The letter, addressed to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, instructs the state to “cease and desist” efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around Shelby Park and remove all barriers by the end of yesterday, Wednesday, January 17. DHS General Counsel Jonathan E. Meyer contends that Texas’s actions are unconstitutional and disrupt federal government operations.
In response to the DHS letter, Abbott asserted, “Biden is doing everything possible to eliminate strategies that actually prevent illegal immigrants from entering our country. Texas will continue to use every tool possible to block illegal immigration.”
The letter set a deadline, suggesting a showdown between Texas’s actions and the authority of Border Patrol under federal law. The term “impeded” in the letter raised concerns, suggesting potential criminal consequences for officers carrying out Governor Abbott’s orders as Federal law 18 U.S. Code § 111 deems it a federal crime to impede or interfere with federal officers or employees with penalties including fines and imprisonment.
The incident unfolded on Thursday, January 11, when the Texas Military Department, acting on Governor Abbott’s orders, seized Shelby Park, expelling Border Patrol agents, erected barriers, and instructed Border Patrol to leave. Since then, crossings in the area have dropped from about 13,000 to 5,000 per day.
The subsequent drowning of a Mexican migrant woman and two children in the Rio Grande escalated tensions after their deaths were blamed on the Texas Guard by Congressman Henry Cuellar, who attributed the drownings to Governor Abbott’s decision to restrict Border Patrol access. A timeline from the Texas Military Department shows that their entering the park came after the drownings, with confirmation from a CBP source that the trio lost their lives an hour away and floated down the river until recovered by the Mexican Federal Police.
Despite this, the DHS letter maintains that denying access to the park contributed to the drownings. Biden administration officials say a communication from Grupo Beta, affiliated with Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, indicates Texas refused Border Patrol access when a group of migrants attempted to cross the river.
In a sudden about-face, the Biden administration, in a new filing to the Supreme Court, admitted that a mother and two children who drowned last week died long before Border Patrol agents sought access to the Shelby Park area from Texas officials.
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