Texas fences off public park in Eagle Pass without notifying local authorities

Texas state officials on Wednesday took control of a riverfront park in Eagle Pass, Texas, blocking access to the facility with Texas National Guard Humvees.

Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said he received a call from Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) South Texas Regional Director Victor Escalon informing him officials were seizing the 47-acre Shelby Park but that the action was taken without the city’s consent.

The park, which straddles the Rio Grande and occupies space under local bridges, is used for a series of community events, sports and as parking for nearby businesses including a flea market.

But it’s also been at the center of attention as regional migration continues at unprecedented levels.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week toured the area with 64 Republican members of the House — including Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who represents Eagle Pass — and bashed the Biden administration over conditions at the border

For GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, Shelby Park has previously served as a staging ground for initiatives like the installation of razor wire and buoy barriers in the river.

The Texas state government had access to the park between June 2022 and August 2023, according to a report by Texas Public Radio, because Salinas signed an affidavit declaring the area private property.

That allowed DPS to enforce criminal trespass laws in the park, according to the Eagle Pass Business Journal.

In August, the Eagle Pass rescinded that affidavit, returning control of the park to the city.

Yet at a news conference Thursday, Salinas said DPS and the Texas National Guard were now preventing private citizens, city officials and Border Patrol officers from entering the park, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Officials with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Border Patrol’s parent agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The seizure is part of a pattern under Operation Lone Star where Texas is pushing the envelope in its enforcement of immigration laws, an authority widely understood to be constitutionally restricted to the federal government.

Last week, on the same day Johnson led the Republican tour of Eagle Pass, the Department of Justice sued Texas over its new immigration law, which would allow police to arrest people suspected of being in the country without prior authorization.

Abbot spokesperson Renae Eze told The Hill that Texas’s efforts will not relent.

“Texas is holding the line at our southern border with miles of additional razor wire and anti-climb barriers to deter and repel the record-high levels of illegal immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open border policies. Instead of enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden Administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country,” said Eze.

“Texas will continue to deploy Texas National Guard soldiers, DPS troopers, and more barriers, utilizing every tool and strategy to respond to President Biden’s ongoing border crisis.”