Current:Home > MyTexas attorney general refuses to grant federal agents full access to border park: "Your request is hereby denied" -Wealthify
Texas attorney general refuses to grant federal agents full access to border park: "Your request is hereby denied"
Fastexy View
Date:2025-04-08 08:28:50
Eagle Pass, Texas — Texas' attorney general on Friday forcefully rejected a request from the Biden administration to grant federal immigration officials full access to a park along the southern border that the state National Guard has sealed off with razor wire, fencing and soldiers.
For three weeks, the federal government and Texas have clashed over Shelby Park, a city-owned public park in the border town of Eagle Pass that was once a busy area for illegal crossings by migrants. Texas National Guard soldiers deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott took control of Shelby Park earlier in January and have since prevented Border Patrol agents from processing migrants in the area, which once served as a makeshift migrant holding site for the federal agency.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Border Patrol, had given Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton until Friday to say the state would relent and allow federal agents inside Shelby Park. On Friday, however, Paxton rebuffed that demand, saying Texas state officials would not allow DHS to turn the area into an "unofficial and unlawful port of entry."
"Your request is hereby denied," Paxton wrote in his letter.
Paxton pledged to continue "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."
Inside Shelby Park, Texas guardsmen have been setting barriers to impede the passage of migrants hoping to cross into the U.S. illegally, and instructing them to return to Mexico across the Rio Grande. The Texas Department of Public Safety also recently started arresting some adult migrants who enter the park on state criminal trespassing charges.
Abbott and other Texas officials have argued the state's actions are designed to discourage migrants from entering the country illegally, faulting the federal government for not doing enough to deter unauthorized crossings. But the Biden administration said Texas is preventing Border Patrol agents from patrolling the Rio Grande, processing migrants and helping those who may be in distress.
Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Texas state officials are not legally authorized nor trained to screen migrants for asylum, arrest them for immigration violations or deport them to a foreign country. However, Abbott signed a law last month that he hopes will allow Texas officials to arrest migrants on illegal entry state-level charges and force them to return to Mexico. The Justice Department is seeking to block that law before it takes effect in March.
The Supreme Court earlier this week allowed Border Patrol to cut the razor wire Texas has assembled near the riverbanks of the Rio Grande, pausing a lower court order that had barred the agency from doing so. The razor wire in Shelby Park has remained in place, however, since federal officials have not been granted full access to the area.
While the Supreme Court has not ruled on Texas' seizure of Shelby Park, that dispute could also end up being litigated in federal court if the Biden administration sues the state over the matter.
While the White House has called his policies inhumane and counterproductive, Abbott has argued he is defending his state from an "invasion," and his actions in Eagle Pass have received the support of other Republican governors across the country.
U.S. officials processed more than 302,000 migrants at and in between ports of entry along the southern border last month, an all-time high that shattered all previous records, according to official government data published Friday. Illegal border crossings have since plummeted, a trend U.S. officials have attributed to increased Mexican immigration enforcement and a historical lull after the holidays.
- In:
- Texas
- Ken Paxton
- Migrants
Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the immigration reporter at CBS News. Based in Washington, he covers immigration policy and politics.
TwitterveryGood! (6)
Related
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible
- A pair of Trump officials have defended family separation and ramped-up deportations
- The boy was found in a ditch in Wisconsin in 1959. He was identified 65 years later.
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Early Week 11 fantasy football rankings: 30 risers and fallers
- Queen Bey and Yale: The Ivy League university is set to offer a course on Beyoncé and her legacy
- Police cruiser strikes and kills a bicyclist pulling a trailer in Vermont
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Kate Spade Outlet’s Early Black Friday Sale – Get a $259 Bag for $59 & More Epic Deals Starting at $25
Ranking
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- U.S.-Mexico water agreement might bring relief to parched South Texas
- Here's what 3 toys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame this year
- Taylor Swift's Dad Scott Swift Photobombs Couples Pic With Travis Kelce
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Cleveland Browns’ Hakeem Adeniji Shares Stillbirth of Baby Boy Days Before Due Date
- Tua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run
- Where you retire could affect your tax bill. Here's how.
Recommendation
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls
Francesca Farago Details Health Complications That Led to Emergency C-Section of Twins
Army veteran reunites with his K9 companion, who served with him in Afghanistan
New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
What does the top five look like and other questions facing the College Football Playoff committee
Steelers' Mike Tomlin shuts down Jayden Daniels Lamar comparison: 'That's Mr. Jackson'
Lions QB Jared Goff, despite 5 interceptions, dared to become cold-blooded