Texas escalates feud with feds as it offers razor wire to ranchers
Texas ups the ante again, looking for ways to expand its use of razor wire - this time on private property - after a controversial Supreme Court ruling. Texas Border Czar Mike Banks (pictured) told ranchers Wednesday the state could install razor wire on their private property free of charge, the state official told a packed room of ranchers who met just outside of Eagle Pass, Texas. This comes after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled Monday that US Border Patrol agents who report to President Joe Biden could cut through the razor wire if they deemed it necessary.
The barrier has been put in place by order of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. In the past, federal agents have cut it when they believed migrants were in danger of drowning in the river that separates Texas from Mexico. The razor wire is deployed in multiple cities and areas of the Texas border, including in Eagle Pass.
With just 28,000 residents, the town has become a major hot spot for migrants since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, currently the second busiest spot along the southern border, behind Lukeville, Arizona. The tiny town has also become a political flashpoint. About two weeks ago, the Lone Star State took control of Shelby Park-- owned by the city of Eagle Pass-- claiming that the move was necessary since it is a popular place for illegal immigrants to cross into the country and then claim asylum-- a move that would almost ensure their release into the US while they case is heard in court.
By order of Gov. Abbott, Border Patrol agents were also kicked out of the park, setting up a showdown between Abbott and the Biden Administration over who has authority to secure the border. The feds have warned Texas that only the federal government has the authority to enforce immigration law and that the Department of Justice is exploring all options to force Texas to let Border Patrol agents do their job. Abbott's take over of Shelby Park has also had other unintended consequences.
Instead of having migrants surrender to Border Patrol agent in the giant open space of a public park, asylum-seekers are mostly avoiding the area. They have moved north and south of the park, illegally crossing into the US through the ranches and other property that sit on the border. 'Now they're on my property,' Luis Valderrama, who owns a 400-acre ranch west of Eagle Pass. Since the state took over the park, Valderrama is seeing groups of migrants as large as 200 people come onto his land every day since it sits directly on the international border.
He's now given Border Patrol agents access to his land so they can arrest the migrants. Most migrants on his land are caught, but sometimes, they'll run away from Border Patrol-- becoming so called 'gotaways,' migrants the Border Patrol knows made illegal entry into the US but did not get arrested.
Since Oct. 1, at least 96,000 'gotaways,” have crossed the southern border, sources from Customs and Border Protection told Fox News. "I have an eight-foot fence and at the very top I have razor wire,' Valderrama explained of what measures he previously took on his own property to keep migrants out.
He also previously allowed the Texas National Guard onto his property to add rows of concertina wire meant to keep migrants out. 'I'm watching these (migrants) cross and I'm like, "Wait 'til they come across. They're not going to know what to do." Nah, they came up and they just hopped over it like deer. I couldn’t believe it.'
So he turned down the state's latest offer for add more wire. 'There's nothing you really do. If migrants know when they get across and they turn themselves in, they're just going to get processed and released, there's no stopping them,' the rancher and retired Border Patrol agent added.
Other ranchers told DailyMail.com they were considering the state's offer of razor wire, but also felt the razor wire could be inhumane. Speaking to the ranchers, Texas Congressman Chip Roy, whose district is hours away from the border outside of Austin, admitted the fight over Shelby Park really isn't about Shelby Park. 'Part of it though, for the governor, is to pick the fight to have the legal fight,' Chip, who tried to help former President Donld Trump overturn Biden's 2020 election victory, confessed. 'Part of it is to demonstrate that Texas is going to do what it needs to do. So part of it was a strategy to say, "We're going to grab that land and we're going to have that fight."'
While Valderrama isn't happy with the state of Texas for making migrant crossings the problem of private citizens, he also thinks the Biden Administration isn't doing its job to secure the border. 'If the federal government isn't going to do it, someone has to do it,' he said. When asked how or when the state vs. federal government standoff would end, Valderrama answered, 'When there's a new president.'
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