Biden Admin Renews Demand for Texas to Allow Border Patrol Access to Shelby Park

National Guard soldiers on the banks of the Rio Grande at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 12, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The Biden administration has renewed its demands for Texas to grant U.S. Border Patrol agents access to a roughly 2.5-mile section of the U.S.-Mexico border. This follows the Supreme Court’s ruling that agents can remove the razor wire installed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, pending a legal challenge in court.

In a letter sent to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) on Jan. 23, Jonathan Meyer, the chief lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demanded that the state grant federal agents access to Shelby Park. Texas state authorities took control of the area earlier this month.

Mr. Meyer said DHS wants to access the park to “address certain allegations made by the State which we believe are either inaccurate or require clarification or confirmation.”

“The State has alleged that Shelby Park is open to the public, but we do not believe this statement is accurate. To our knowledge, Texas has only permitted access to Shelby Park by allowing public entry for a memorial, the media, and use of the golf course adjacent to Shelby Park, all while continuing to restrict U.S. Border Patrol’s access to the park. Please clarify the scope of access Texas permits to the public,” Mr. Meyer wrote.

Mr. Meyer noted the Supreme Court’s 5–4 vote on Monday to vacate a ruling issued in mid-December by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that would have prevented Border Patrol agents from removing razor barriers put up along the banks of the Rio Grande, where Shelby Park is also located, to deter illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. illegally.

The ruling marks a win for the Biden administration in its longstanding legal dispute with Texas over its efforts to prevent illegal crossings.

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“As you are aware, yesterday, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction prohibiting the Department from cutting or moving the concertina wire that Texas had placed along the border except in case of emergency, and restored the department’s right to cut and move the concertina wire placed by Texas in order to perform their statutory duties,” he wrote. “The department must also have the ability to access the border in the Shelby Park area that is currently obstructed by Texas.”

White House Blames Illegal Immigrant Drownings on Texas Officials

The chief lawyer for DHS also requested that Mr. Paxton clarify, by Jan. 26, which parts of the 47-acre Shelby Park remain accessible or inaccessible to Border Patrol. He said that federal authorities have a legal right to access the parkland area.

“The Department acquired permanent real estate interests in and around Eagle Pass in 2008 to support the construction and maintenance of border barriers in and around the Shelby Park area,” Mr. Meyer wrote. “Because the Department owns property rights to the areas depicted on the attached map, we demand that you immediately remove any and all obstructions on it, which include the access points into Shelby Park.”

Earlier this month, Texas authorities took control of Shelby Park, an area known as a hotbed for illegal immigration, in an effort to combat unprecedented illegal border crossings.

However, the state has been widely criticized by the Biden administration in the wake of the deaths of a mother and two children who drowned in the Rio Grande earlier this month after they were allegedly “physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area,” according to DHS.

Officials in the state, including Mr. Paxton, have repeatedly denied the Biden administration’s accusations.

In a statement issued last week, the Texas Military Department said that a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding the drowning of the illegal immigrants revealed that Border Patrol agents requested access to the area after the drownings had occurred and while Mexican authorities were already recovering the bodies.

In a previous letter to DHS, Mr. Paxton also called the Biden administration’s claims regarding the death of the illegal immigrants “vile” and “completely inaccurate.”

Texas National Guard works to place razor wire and barriers at Shelby Park on the U.S.–Mexico border, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2024. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Texas Vows to Hold The Line

As tensions between Texas and the Biden administration continue to soar, Texas has continued to defy orders from the Biden administration to relinquish control of the Shelby Park area and last week began arresting illegal immigrants at Shelby Park.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Lt. Chris Olivarez at the Texas Department of Public Safety said the arrests included single adult men and women who were taken into state custody and charged with criminal trespassing.

The Texas Military Department said on Wednesday that it “continues to hold the line in Shelby Park to deter and prevent unlawful entry into the State of Texas.”

“We remain resolute in our actions to secure our border, preserve the rule of law, and protect the sovereignty of our State,” officials said.

‘I Have Already Declared an Invasion’

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down on recent marks that the state has a constitutional right to self-defense.

“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them. The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration,” the Republican governor wrote in a statement published by his office.

“Despite having been put on notice in a series of letters—one of which I delivered to him by hand—President Biden has ignored Texas’ demand that he perform his constitutional duties,” he continued.

Mr. Abbott said the Biden administration’s alleged failure to fulfill its duties has triggered Texas’ right to self-defense.

“For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border,” Mr. Abbott said.