DHS threatens Texas with legal action over seizure of park along Rio Grande: 'Cease and desist'

The Department of Homeland Security is threatening Texas with legal action if it doesn’t end its seizure of a park along the Rio Grande River – claiming the move is unconstitutional and impedes Border Patrol operations along the border.

"Texas’s actions are clearly unconstitutional and are actively disrupting the federal government’s operations. 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 letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a copy of which was obtained by Fox News Digital, says.

Texas took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, an area that had previously served as a staging area for processing during migrant surges in the busy crossing area, on Wednesday. 

DHS CLAIMS BORDER PATROL BLOCKED BY TEXAS FROM ENTERING AREA TO RESCUE MIGRANTS WHO LATER DROWNED

A National Guard soldier stands guard on the banks of the Rio Grande at Shelby Park on Jan. 12, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The Texas Military Department said the move was to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to stop organizations that "perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area." 

It marked a rapid escalation in already high tensions between Texas and the federal government over border security. There are currently a number of ongoing lawsuits between the two sides.

In its letter, DHS says Texas is blocking Border Patrol from approximately 2.5 miles of the border and that some of the barriers deployed by Texas are on federal land.

"While Texas has claimed that it has re-opened the use of Shelby Park to the public, it continues to prevent Border Patrol from entering, and from using the area under the adjacent port of entry where Border Patrol has certain property stored for use when migrants are apprehended," it said.

The letter cites a 2012 Supreme Court case, Arizona v U.S., that found the federal government has broad power over immigration and border enforcement.

The letter also highlights a recent incident in which three migrants, including two children, drowned in the area after it says Border Patrol was blocked from accessing it. Texas has said clams that it prevented Border Patrol from saving lives of migrants are "wholly inaccurate" and that bodies were already being recovered by Mexican authorities when agents requested access to the area.

WHITE HOUSE ACCUSES ABBOTT OF TRYING TO ‘POLITICIZE THE BORDER’ AFTER TEXAS SEIZES PARK ALONG RIO GRANDE

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a panel discussion at the Yale Club in Manhattan on Sept. 27, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The letter says that if it has not heard by end of day Wednesday from Texas that it will cease and desist efforts to block access and will remove barriers, "we will refer the matter to the Department of Justice for appropriate action and consider all other options available to restore Border Patrol’s access to the border."

The Biden administration has already complained to the Supreme Court about the matter, as part of ongoing litigation over the Biden administration's cutting of razor wire set up by Texas to stop illegal crossings. The administration has sued separately over the setting up of buoys in the Rio Grande and a recent anti-illegal immigration law signed into law by Abbott that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, there were over 302,000 migrant encounters in December alone after a record-setting 2.4 million encounters in FY 23. 

The White House recently accused Abbott of trying to "politicize the border" with his actions.

DOJ RENEWS SCOTUS PUSH TO ACT AFTER TEXAS SEIZES BORDER AREAS, BLOCKS BORDER PATROL FROM ENTERING 

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"Whether it is leaving migrants on the side of the road in the dead of winter, installing razor wire to make Border Patrol’s job more dangerous, promoting extreme and unconstitutional laws like S.B. 4, or his latest actions in Eagle Pass, Governor Abbott has repeatedly proven that he is not interested in solutions and only seeks to politicize the border," the White House statement said. 

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"The President has been clear that we need adequate resources and policy changes, and that our immigration system is broken. That is why on his first day in office he presented Congress with a comprehensive immigration reform plan, and that is why he is working to find a bipartisan agreement with Congress that includes funding and meaningful reforms," they added.

Paxton's office did not respond to a request for comment on the letter. But Abbott indicated that he intends to continue with his approach.  

"Biden is doing everything possible to eliminate strategies that actually prevent illegal immigrants from entering our country," Abbott said on Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Texas will continue to use every tool possible to block illegal immigration."