{"id":22681,"date":"2024-01-15T20:25:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T02:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=22681"},"modified":"2024-01-15T20:25:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T02:25:58","slug":"migrant-deaths-in-rio-grande-intensify-tensions-between-texas-biden-administration-over-crossings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=22681","title":{"rendered":"Migrant deaths in Rio Grande intensify tensions between Texas, Biden administration over crossings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) \u2014 After Texas fenced off a park<\/a> along the U.S.-Mexico border and began turning away Border Patrol agents, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> explained why at a campaign stop near Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not allowing Border Patrol on that property anymore,\u201d Abbott said Friday, drawing applause from supporters while endorsing a state legislator running for reelection. He relayed frustration over migrants illegally entering the U.S. through the border city of Eagle Pass<\/a> and federal agents loading them onto buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe said, \u2018We\u2019ve had it. We\u2019re not going to let this happen anymore,\u2019\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that night, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said three migrants, including two children,\u00a0drowned near the park<\/a>\u00a0after Texas officials \u201cphysically barred\u201d Border Patrol agents from entering. Mexican authorities pulled the bodies, each of them wearing jackets, from the water on the other side of the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weekend deaths intensified tensions between Texas and the Biden administration. They also unleashed a new round of criticism from Democrats over Abbott\u2019s aggressive actions to curb illegal crossings, accusing the measures of putting migrants at risk. U.S. authorities described the drownings as underscoring the need for Border Patrol agents to have access to the area around Shelby Park, which Texas closed off earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cU.S. Border Patrol must have access to the border to enforce our laws,\u201d White House spokesman Angelo Fern\u00e1ndez Hern\u00e1ndez said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday evening, the Texas Military Department released a statement disputing the U.S. government\u2019s accounts, calling it \u201cwholly inaccurate\u201d that state personnel prevented Border Patrol from saving drowning migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the time that Border Patrol requested access, the drownings had occurred, Mexican authorities were recovering the bodies, and Border Patrol expressed these facts to the TMD personnel on site,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration stuck to its initial account Sunday, saying in a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that Texas denied Border Patrol agents access before they knew the migrants died. In a direct contradiction of Texas\u2019 version of events, Homeland Security said agents at the time knew only that migrants were attempting to cross the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTexas has demonstrated that even in the most exigent circumstances, it will not allow Border Patrol agents access to the border to conduct law enforcement and emergency response activities,\u201d wrote Jonathan E. Meyer, Homeland Security\u2019s general counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meyer threatened legal action if Texas doesn\u2019t restore access by the end of Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The park lies in a major corridor\u00a0for migrants<\/a>\u00a0entering illegally from Mexico and is at the center of Abbott\u2019s aggressive attempts to stop them,\u00a0known as Operation Lone Star<\/a>. Migrants are periodically swept away to their deaths by the current of the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents a Texas border district, acknowledged Sunday that state officials investigated the distress call and searched for the migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, the bottom line is that Border Patrol was barred from entering Shelby Park,\u201d Cuellar said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas officials said Border Patrol agents had requested access to find other migrants who were presumed to have been with those who died. Two were apprehended by state military personnel, including one who was transferred to medics with \u201chypothermic conditions.\u201d The statement did not say whether Border Patrol agents were allowed in the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the summer, thousands of people were crossing illegally into the U.S. through Eagle Pass. The numbers subsided but again rose in December when thousands of migrants overwhelmed federal resources. But a sharp decrease was noted at the start of January after Mexico stepped up<\/a> immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 50-acre (20-hectare) park is owned by the city, but it is used by the state Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department to patrol border crossings. Earlier this week, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas questioned why the state closed the park now, since daily apprehensions in the region have fallen in recent weeks. He said the state gave city officials no warning and offered no timetable on when the park would reopen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the Justice Department told the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> that Texas had taken control of Shelby Park and was not letting Border Patrol agents enter. Texas acknowledged seizing the city park<\/a> but told the court the the federal government had mischaracterized its actions and that it was trying to resolve any disputes over access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas has come under recurring scrutiny over efforts to curb border crossings. Abbott has sent more than 100,000 migrants on buses to Democratic-led cities, even as frigid conditions set in during the winter.<\/a> He also has strung up razor wire on the border and installed buoy barriers<\/a> on the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa R. Cigarroa, a city council member in Laredo and member of the No Border Wall Coalition, was among those who attended a vigil Saturday at Shelby Park to mark the deaths of migrants who have died along the Rio Grande. She said attendees passed through a gate with armed National Guard members and that they could see could see law enforcement officers and vehicles gathered near the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that scene, coupled with the reason for the ceremony, left her thinking about \u201cjust how little people\u2019s lives matter in these decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are dying, and we know now that deterrents mean nothing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) \u2014 After Texas fenced off a park along the U.S.-Mexico border and began turning away Border Patrol agents, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott explained why at a campaign stop near Houston. \u201cWe are not allowing Border Patrol on that property anymore,\u201d Abbott said Friday, drawing applause from supporters while endorsing a state legislator running for reelection. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25897,7821,25490,25898,6395],"class_list":["post-22681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-bipartisan-conflict","tag-border-issues","tag-escalation","tag-immigrant-deaths","tag-rio-grande"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22681"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22683,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22681\/revisions\/22683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}