Texas has seized a 2.5-mile stretch of land along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, prompting accusations from the federal government that the state’s actions are unconstitutional. File Photo by Adam Davis/EPA-EFE
Jan. 18 (UPI) — Texas will not comply with the Biden administration’s demand that it stop blocking U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing a 2.5-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the state’s attorney general, who said he is willing to argue the issue in court.
The Republican-led government of Texas has been in a protracted fight with the Biden administration over immigration, and has taken a series of controversial moves to retaliate against the White House and to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the state, including its Jan. 10 seizure of Shelby Park, which is located along the banks of the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass.
The state has deployed Texas Military Department personnel and erected fences to prevent migrants from entering Texas via the border area.
On Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security sent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton a letter to cease-and-desist actions it has taken that prevent border agents from accessing the seized border area after three migrants, including two children, drowned in the Rio Grande River a day earlier.
Homeland Security gave Texas until Wednesday to comply or the issue would be brought to the Department of Justice. And on the day of the deadline, Paxton told the federal government that the state would defy its demand because “the facts and law side with Texas.”
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should stop wasting scarce time and resources suing Texas, and start enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books,” Paxton said in his response letter.
The Department of Homeland Security has argued that Texas’ seizure of the border land is not only unconstitutional as it disrupts the federal government’s responsibilities over immigration but is unsafe as the recent drownings prove that Texas “will not allow Border Patrol access to the border to conduct law enforcement and emergency response activities.”
Texas has rejected the allegations it is responsible for the deaths of the migrants.
The Justice Department said Border Patrol agents were responding to a Mexican distress call concerning migrants on the U.S. side of the river when blocked by the Texas at Shelby Park. The following day, Mexico reported that the migrants in distress attempted to return to Mexico where two were rescued, with the bodies of the three drowned migrants later retrieved from the water.
The federal government argues that Texas’ actions prevented the federal government from even taking steps to assist Mexico in the rescue mission.
In his letter Wednesday, Paxton said it was “vile” to try and blame the migrant deaths on Texas, stating the Texas Military Department did not prevent Board Patrol from entering the park.
