Texas is refusing to retreat in the face of a federal demand that it provide Border Patrol with unfettered access to the Rio Grande in the city of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Late last month, Border Patrol was processing up to 4,000 illegal immigrants per day in the sector that includes Eagle Pass, which has become a superhighway of illegal immigration, according to CBS.
“Illegal border crossings have always happened,” Eagle Pass Fire Chief Manuel Mello said. “Groups of 10, 12 — that was a large group. But now you see 3,000 and 4,000 in one day. I never thought something like this could happen.”
Earlier this month, Texas took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, with Texas Military Dept. issuing a statement saying it would “restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area,” according to Fox News.
That included Border Patrol, leading Homeland Security General Counsel Jonathan Meyer to send a sternly worded letter. “The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded operations of the Border Patrol. Those actions conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Texas’s actions also improperly seek to regulate the federal government,” the letter said.
“Texas’s actions are clearly unconstitutional and are actively disrupting the federal government’s operations,” Meyer wrote, giving Texas until Wednesday to do as it was told and give the Border Patrol full access to the park.
In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said that’s not happening.
“Your letter misstates both the facts and the law in demanding that Texas surrender to President Biden’s open-border policies,” Paxton wrote.
“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.”
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In response to Meyer’s claims that Texas was responsible for the death of three illegal immigrants, Paxton replied that “it is DHS and Biden Administration policies that are leading migrants to risk their lives, and sometimes lose them, trying to cross the Rio Grande. If you really care about migrants being put in ‘imminent danger to life and safety,’ your agency should stop driving them into the waters of the river. Nobody drowns on a bridge.”
Paxton soon left the narrow issue behind and explained to Meyer that “your demand letter rests on a more fundamental misunderstanding of federal law and the role of sovereign States within our constitutional order.”
Noting a claim advanced by Meyer that the Border Patrol has access to any land within 25 miles of the border, Paxton replied that this was only “’for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States,’” citing the relevant section of law.
“President Biden has ordered your agency to do the exact opposite, in keeping with his open-borders campaign promise. There is not even a pretense that you are trying to prevent the illegal entry of aliens,” Paxton wrote.
Paxton added a bit of biting sarcasm.
“According to your letter, ‘[t]he U.S. Constitution tasks the federal government with … securing the Nation’s borders.’ When were you planning to start?” the letter said.
“Rather than addressing Texas’s urgent requests for protection, President Biden has authorized DHS to send a threatening letter through its lawyers,” he wrote.
“But Texas has lawyers, too, and I will continue to stand up for this State’s constitutional powers of self-defense. Instead of running to the U.S. Department of Justice in hopes of winning an injunction, you should advise your clients at DHS to do their job and follow the law,” Paxton wrote.
