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Texas National Guard makes major border move amid ‘significant escalation’ with the feds

January 12, 2024 | | Print Article

The feud between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the federal government just got a lot hotter.

The Texas National Guard has seized control of Shelby Park, located in the epicenter of the Lone Star State’s migrant crisis, Eagle Pass, and is refusing to allow Border Patrol from entering the area.

“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, according to Fox News Digital.

Border Patrol had been cutting the razor wire Texas had erected.

“Razor wire and fences are now deployed to block the area off from the public and federal government,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported.


According to the Border Patrol union, the move by Abbott is “a force multiplier.”

“Governor Abbott is not harming Border Patrol operations, he is enhancing them,” National Border Patrol Council Brandon Judd told Melugin in a statement. “His seizing control of Shelby Park allows our agents to deploy to troubled spots that experience high numbers of gotaways. Governor Abbott’s actions should be seen as a force multiplier.”

But one senior Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official argues that Texas has only added extra steps to the migrant process and the move won’t slow the swarm of illegal crossers.

“It’s of no operational or law enforcement benefit to try to block federal authorities from being able to do their job,” the official said, according to Fox News Digital.

Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando confirmed that he was notified of the action by the Texas Department of Public Safety as part of Governor Abbott’s emergency declaration.

“As caravans of migrants are moving through Mexico toward the U.S. border,” Governor Abbott wrote on X, “we are making clear that Texas will be a tough place to cross.”

Overnight, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice pushed back, filing a supplemental memorandum with the U.S. Supreme Court in which the government confirms that the Texas National Guard “has deployed armed soldiers and vehicles to block federal gov from accessing the river.”

“The Regional Director of the Texas DPS advised me that it is the position of the State of Texas, through the National Guard, that it will not allow Border Patrol or DOD personnel who support Border Patrol into the approximately 2.5-mile stretch along the national border near Shelby Park in any operational capacity,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Barchas Preloga wrote in the filing. “I was further advised that Texas does not want Border Patrol to be able to arrest, process, or transport migrants out of the identified area.”

Shelby Park “contains the boat ramp from which Border Patrol routinely launches the patrol boats it uses on this stretch of the Rio Grande,” Preloga stated in the motion. “It also includes the staging area that Border Patrol has used to evaluate and begin inspecting migrants that it has apprehended along this stretch of the border.”

“This is a significant escalation by Texas after Feds fought to remove TX water barriers and razor wire, & DOJ is suing TX over its new border security law,” Melugin wrote on X. “This is potentially setting up to be the biggest state vs federal fight in a very long time.”

Melissa Fine
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