Texas Blocking Border Patrol From Patrolling Area Where Migrants Cross; Federal Government Asks Supreme Court To Intervene

The US Justice Department is saying that Customs and Border Patrol agents in Texas cannot patrol an area frequented by migrants crossing into the US because Texas is blocking them from doing so. This is happening amid an ongoing row between President Joe Biden and Texas Governor Greg Abbott regarding jurisdiction on whether the state can enforce immigration laws as that falls on the duties of the federal government.

According to The Texas Tribune, Border Patrol agents claim they cannot access roughly 2.5 miles of the border and a boat ramp in Eagle Pass because the Texas National Guard and state troopers are blocking them from doing their jobs as clashes between state and federal authorities continue.

Texas state troopers and National Guard members reportedly began to take "full control" of the 47-acre Shelby Park and placed concertina wire and fencing there, closing it off not just to the public but also to federal authorities.

This was confirmed by Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, who added that "the park would be closed indefinitely and the state took the action to prevent immigrants from illegally crossing into Texas."

Border Patrol agents usually use a boat ramp at the park to launch their boats to patrol the Rio Grande. They also use the area to inspect migrants who have been apprehended in this part of the border. However, they are being prevented from doing this, and this has prompted the federal government to ask the US Supreme Court to intervene.

The state and federal governments are currently battling things out at the Supreme Court, with the federal government asking the highest court in the land to overrule a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that prevents Border Patrol agents from cutting the concertina wire Texas has strung along the Rio Grande.

Texas Using Military Equipment To Prevent Border Patrol Agents From Doing Their Jobs

In one stretch of the border that the CBP usually patrols, Texas National Guard members reportedly used their vehicles to stop Border Patrol agents from accessing the Rio Grande so they could patrol it. The DOJ court filing also revealed that the Texas National Guard also used a military Humvee to keep Border Patrol agents from accessing a road.

"Because Border Patrol can no longer access or view this stretch of the border, Texas has effectively prevented Border Patrol from monitoring the border," said the DOJ in its filing.

"Texas's new actions since the government's filing demonstrate an escalation of the State's measures to block Border Patrol's ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies," wrote Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar in the filing.

Texas Asserts It Has Authority To Block Access to the Border

After the filing, Governor Greg Abbott insisted to reporters that Texas has the authority to control access to any geographic location in the state, with the Republican governor adding, "That authority is being asserted."

Patrolling the border and implementing immigration laws has always been the job of the federal government. However, Abbott has recently stepped up his anti-immigration efforts, and this has not only prevented Border Patrol agents from properly patrolling the border but also hurt and injured immigrants, with Texas state authorities being accused of inhumane practices such as pushing tired migrants back to the river and not allowing them to drink amid the summer heat.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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