Texas is rejecting a Biden administration demand to give federal agents full access to a border park even as the union representing Border Patrol agents says it has no plans to push Texas troops out of the way even if ordered.
Throughout January, Texas and the Biden administration have dueled over Shelby Park in the community of Eagle Pass, Texas, which has been flooded with waves of illegal immigrants. Texas National Guard troops have denied federal agents access to the park, leading to a demand from the Department of Homeland Security that Texas do as DHS tells it and grant access to Border Patrol agents.
The demand gave Texas until Friday to respond and comply. Instead, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a letter to Jonathan Meyer, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, rejecting the demand.
“Presumably because you have no meaningful response to our letter, your latest letter abandons earlier factual assertions, asserts new ones, and supplies even less of a legal basis for your demand. Once again, I respectfully suggest that any time you might spend suing Texas should be redirected toward enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books,” Paxton wrote.
The letter shot holes in federal claims that it has rights to some areas of the park, mocking a “home-cooked map” purporting to show land the federal government owns, saying, “publicly available records suggest the United States does not even purport to own what your latest letter claims.”
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The letter also explains an agreement between Eagle Pass and the federal government to access certain land was never approved by the state, as required by law, and therefore is not in effect.
“The 2018 easement, however, nowhere contemplates allowing the federal government to deploy infrastructure that President Biden will use to wave thousands of illegal aliens into a park that will ‘continue to [be] use[d] and enjoy[ed]’ for ‘recreation events,’” the letter said.
“As I said before, this office will continue to defend Texas’s efforts to protect its southern border against every effort by the Biden Administration to undermine the State’s constitutional right of self-defense. You should advise your clients to join us in those efforts by doing their job and following the law,” he wrote.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said Texas has a constitutional duty to respond to an invasion on the part of illegal immigrants, to which Democrats such as Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar of Texas have replied by calling for President Joe Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard and take it out of the state’s control, according to Newsweek.
Will Texas prevail in securing its southern border?
Paxton said he doubts a physical confrontation will ensure, saying he expects the issue will be fought out in court, according to Fox News.
Meanwhile, the Border Patrol union posted a defiant message on X.
“Rank-and file BP agents are not going to start arresting TX NG members for following their LAWFUL orders. That’s fake news. TX NG and rank-and-file BP agents work together and respect each other’s jobs. Period,” the union posted.
“If TX NG members have LAWFUL orders, then they have to carry out those orders. TX NG members realize that rank-and-file BP agents have their orders as well. Lawful orders, no matter how unpopular or distasteful amongst rank-and-file agents, must be followed,” the post said.
Rank-and file BP agents are not going to start arresting TX NG members for following their LAWFUL orders. That’s fake news.
TX NG and rank-and-file BP agents work together and respect each other’s jobs. Period. If TX NG members have LAWFUL orders, then they have to carry out…
— Border Patrol Union – NBPC (@BPUnion) January 26, 2024
The post said liberals hoping for a Fort Sumter moment would be disappointed.
“Unlawful orders (as determined by competent legal counsel and not what some outhouse lawyer behind a keyboard says) will not be followed. Rank-and-file BP agents appreciate and respect what TX has been doing to defend their state in the midst of this catastrophe that the Biden Admin has unleashed on America,” the post said.
“We want to be perfectly clear, there is no fight between rank-and-file BP agents and the TX NG, Gov. Abott, or TX DPS. It may make flashy headlines, but it simply isn’t true,” the post concluded.
