As we mentioned last week, Gen. J.O. Shelby Park, which sits alongside the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, has been taken over by Texas officials. The park has during the Biden years been a major entry point into the U.S. for illegal migrants, which the Border Patrol has done little to prevent. As a consquence, the Texas Military Department seized the park and evicted the federal officials stationed there.
In response, the chief lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security has sent a sharply worded letter to the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, saying:
We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area.
The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded [emphasis added] operations of the Border Patrol. Those actions conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
The letter insists that its demands be met by the close of business today, January 17. No reprisals were mentioned, but Breitbart News infers that the use of the word “impeded” suggests an implied threat of criminal action against the Texas officials it deems responsible. According to Breitbart, “Under federal law 18 U.S. Code § 111, it is a federal crime to ‘impede’ or ‘interfere’ with certain officers or employees of the federal government.”
Breitbart quotes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who posted the following apparent response on X:
Biden is doing everything possible to eliminate strategies that actually prevent illegal immigrants from entering our country. Texas will continue to use every tool possible to block illegal immigration.
For more, see Breitbart News.