Joe Biden has no qualms with using the power of government to punish his opponents. But he’s taken it a step too far this time.
And the White House just ordered Texas to do the unthinkable.
The Department of Homeland Security is demanding that Texas give up control of a border park that the Texas National Guard seized last week as part of the state’s fight on illegal immigration.
In a cease-and-desist letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton obtained by NBC News, the DHS stated that the Texas National Guard must return control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass to Border Patrol.
There have been surges of illegal immigrants entering Texas through Shelby Park, and Texas has contended that federal officials have merely exacerbated the situation, prompting the state to ban access to the area for federal agents.
“The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded 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. Texas’s actions also improperly seek to regulate the federal government,” DHS General Counsel Jonathan Meyer wrote to Paxton.
“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,” the letter added.
The DHS wants Texas to eliminate all entry barriers in the park and let the federal agency access to the region.
It stated that if Texas does not comply with the DHS’s request, it will investigate all possibilities for ending Texas’ control over the area.
The letter also claimed that Texas was partially responsible for the deaths of three migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande near the park.
The letter claimed that Texas “refused” to assist the two migrants, a charge that the Texas Military Department denies.
“TMD had a unit in the vicinity of the boat ramp and actively searched the river with lights and night vision goggles. No migrants were observed,” the Texas Military Department said.
“At approximately 9:45pm TMD observed a group of Mexican authorities responding to an incident on the Mexico-side of the river bank. TMD reported their observations back to Border Patrol and they confirmed that the Mexican authorities required no additional assistance.”
The letter is part of a larger dispute between Texas and the Biden administration about the southern border.
Texas has stated that President Joe Biden’s policies have resulted in record border surges and that the federal government has failed to secure the border.
And how can anyone deny that is true?
Under Trump’s last two years, there were around 1.3 million encounters at the border.
Within Biden first two years, nearly 5 million illegal immigrants were encountered.
To put that in perspective, almost two times as many illegal immigrants were released in Biden’s first two years (2.46 million) than were even encountered under Trump’s last two years.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
