Texas refuses to back down in border standoff with feds, as record 302K migrants illegally cross US-Mexico border in December
Tensions between federal officials and Texas authorities continued to build Friday over access to the hotly disputed border area in Eagle Pass which migrants had been using to cross into the US illegally by the thousands.
The same day Customs and Border Protection released its operational figures for December — showing a record 302,034 encounters along the Southwest border in December, a stark indication the migrant crisis is not slowing down.
Gov. Greg Abbott had marched state troops into Shelby Park on Jan. 11 and erected fences, barriers and razor wire on the banks of the Rio Grande, which serves as the border with Mexico, in a bid to deter people from crossing.
The takeover has been challenged by the Department of Homeland Security, who claimed federal officers need access to the area and demanded for it to be cleared by Friday.
Four National Guard members at the gate entrance to Shelby Park told The Post they hadn’t seen any federal authorities at the park despite the deadline to relinquish control at 1 p.m. local time.
“They haven’t approached us and we haven’t seen anyone from Border Patrol or anywhere like that,” one of the guards told The Post before the others agreed.
The armed guard stood at the entrance to the park Friday afternoon, letting in officials and members of the public, who are allowed to access the golf course within the 47-acre park grounds.
However, the banks of the river are off-limits and heavily fortified with numerous coils of razor wire and patrolled by Texas National Guard troops.
Shipping containers also remained in place at the edge of the river to stop people from crossing.
An adviser to Abbott on the border crisis confirmed the deployment of additional resources from the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety on Friday.
Mike Banks wrote on X: “[We] continue to step up and deploy personnel and resources to hold the line. We are grateful for the support from our fellow Texans and Americans as we defend against [President] Biden’s open border policies.”
Abbott has repeatedly blamed the Biden Administration for allowing the influx of illegal immigrants into deluged Texas border towns.
He said Wednesday Texas’ right to self-defense “supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary,” and vowed to “continue to deploy this razor wire to repel illegal immigration.”
Biden claimed last year his administration would get tough on those attempting to cross into the US and deport anyone who crosses into the country illegally and without making an appointment with border officers first.
However, border patrol agents are still under orders to arrest and process hundreds of thousands of people caught crossing illegally each month and then release them into the US to pursue asylum claims.
Figures released by Border Patrol Friday admitted they had deported less than 500,000 people in the eight months between May and the end of the year, less than one in five of the total number of migrants encountered at the Southwest Border in 2023.
In the 2023 fiscal year, more encounters were recorded on the southern border than any other year since the government began keeping those records in 1960 — with an estimated total of 2.4 million.
Migrants crossing the Rio Grande often massed in Shelby Park. Blockading the area, Abbott maintains, serves as an effective deterrent.
Federal officials have blasted Abbott for impeding their access to the area, arguing that they’re unable to render emergency aid to migrants in need.
Abbott’s stand has been bolstered by formal support from 25 GOP governors across the country who’ve expressed support for Texas’ “constitutional right to self-defense.”
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border,” a statement released by the Republican Governor’s Association read.
The Justice Department threatened last month to sue Texas if it enforced a new state law set to start in March which permits local authorities to arrest, jail, prosecute and deport illegal migrants.
Eagle Pass resident Raul Villanueva, 69, a taxi driver, told The Post Friday that since Gov. Abbott’s measures in Shelby Park fewer migrants have been crossing.
“They’re getting backlog in Mexico … Now they know they’re getting arrested they don’t want to cross.”
However, Villanueva warned the bottleneck won’t last forever and he expects the cartels who decide who can cross and where on the Mexican side of the border will once again try and flood it.
“The reality is whenever they say, ‘OK they can come,’ we’re going to have a big mess,” he added.
