Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has rejected the federal government's demand to give Border Patrol agents access to a park along the border in Eagle Pass by the end of Wednesday, setting up a legal showdown over border policy. In a letter to Homeland Security general counsel Jonathan Meyer, Paxton accused the agency of "demanding that Texas surrender to President Biden's open-border policies" with its cease-and-desist letter. Texas "will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court," Paxton wrote.
Meyer warned Paxton last weekend that the department would seek action from the Justice Department if Texas didn't give the Border Patrol access to Shelby Park, which sits on the Rio Grande, CBS News reports. Tensions grew after a woman and two children trying to cross from Mexico drowned in the river Friday night, though the Justice Department later clarified that they had already drowned when Texas National Guardsmen blocked Border Patrol agents from reaching the river, the Dallas Morning News reports. In his letter, Paxton described the attempt to blame Texas for the deaths as "vile."
Paxton acknowledged that federal law gives Border Patrol agents "warrantless access to land within 25 miles of the border" —but only "for the purpose (of) patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States," which he argues the government is failing to do. CNN reports that Texas authorities arrested migrants at the park Wednesday evening for the first time since they took control of the area last week. Lt. Chris Olivarez at the Texas Department of Public Safety said migrants arrested for criminal trespassing will face the state charge before they are transferred to Border Patrol custody. (More US-Mexico border stories.)
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