Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is defying the Biden administration’s demands to stop restricting U.S. Border Patrol agents from Eagle Pass’s Shelby Park where three migrants drowned last week.
A “cease-and-desist” letter from the Department of Homeland Security on Sunday gave Texas officials a Wednesday deadline to grant federal officials access to the park. Failure to do so would see the issue taken up to the Department of Justice.
However, Paxton responded to the letter on Wednesday, stating that the “facts and law side with Texas” on this issue. Hence, the state will continue its takeover of the park.
In his words, Texas “will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court.”
Paxton’s letter further pointed out that Texas still allows federal agents to use the park’s boat ramp to render emergency medical help when needed.
The attorney general also debunked the DHS’ claims that Texas is to blame for the death of the three migrants that happened last Saturday.
Texas AG Responds to ‘Vile, Inaccurate Accusations’ in DHS Cease and Desist Letter
Texas will not surrender to Biden’s destructive open-border policies: Paxtonhttps://t.co/tVYIAFebrL
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 18, 2024
As the letter pointed out, “Contrary to your letter, TMD did not prevent U.S. Border Patrol from entering Shelby Park to attempt a water rescue of migrants in distress. The federal agents at the gate did not even have a boat, and they did not request entry based on any medical exigency. Instead, the federal agents told TMD’s staff sergeant that Mexican officials had already recovered dead bodies and that the situation was under control. Texas’s Guardsmen nevertheless made a diligent search, only to confirm that Mexican officials had recovered the migrants’ bodies, downriver from the Shelby Park boat ramp and on their side of the river.”
Paxton also accused the DHS and President Joe Biden’s policies of risking migrants’ lives, as he pointed to the danger in migrants’ attempts to cross the Rio Grande while trying to cross the border into Texas.
“As a federal court has already ruled, it is DHS and Biden Administration policies that are leading migrants to risk their lives, and sometimes lose them, trying to cross the Rio Grande. If you really care about migrants being put in “imminent danger to life and safety,” your agency should stop driving them into the waters of the river. Nobody drowns on a bridge,” the letter wrote.
“Rather than addressing Texas’s urgent requests for protection, President Biden has authorized DHS to send a threatening letter through its lawyers. But Texas has lawyers, too, and I will continue to stand up for this State’s constitutional powers of self-defense. Instead of running to the U.S. Department of Justice in hopes of winning an injunction, you should advise your clients at DHS to do their job and follow the law.” the letter concluded.
