Democratic mayor of Eagle Pass slams 'frustrating' migrant showdown

The Democratic mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas , has expressed his frustration over the current border battle between the Biden administration and governor Greg Abbott over a popular corridor for illegal immigration. The Biden administration and the Abbott government have been at odds over access to Shelby Park, and Texas has continued to install razor wire after the Supreme Court said Border Patrol agents could remove it to rescue migrants.

'It’s quite honestly frustrating that showdown between the feds and the state,' Rolando Salinas said on Tuesday in an interview with Fox News . 'We are just going to focus on our city, on our people, on our economy, because I’m tired of the games that both parties are playing.' Salinas also clarified that he does not support illegal immigration, and said those who cross the border illegally should be deported. 'I’m all for legal migration, I don’t support people coming in and crossing the river and staying here in the United States,' he said. 'I think those people should be sent back immediately because it’s not fair for the people that do it the right way.'

Texas seized control of Shelby Park this month and began denying entry to Border Patrol agents, escalating a feud between Abbott and President Biden’s administration, which the governor accuses of not doing enough to curb illegal crossings. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security sent the state a letter demanding access again to Shelby Park, which is next to the Rio Grande. Then, on social media, Abbott struck a defiant tone, issuing a statement that said Texas had a 'constitutional right to self-defense' but did not address access to the park.

The federal government claims the wire fences endanger safety and get in the way of rescue efforts, while the state says it stops the flow of migrants. 'I’m, quite frankly, so frustrated. And it needs to end. I just don’t like the back and forth and the constant, it’s a constant struggle,' mayor Salinas added of the battle. 'Nobody wants to come together. Long gone are the days of the reasonable politician, that is what I think.'

Small business owners in Eagle Pass told NewsNation the area is now a 'ghost town' because they have lost many of their clients who live in Mexico and cross the border legally to shop in the US. US Customs and Border Protection temporarily closed the legal port of entry at Eagle Pass last month due to record levels of migrant crossings. 'Recently with all this going on, it’s just been dead,' area worker Alex De Hyos told the outlet. 'We have weekends here where we don’t even make any sales. We make little of any sales when normally we should be making a lot more.'

Both Democratic and Republican local leaders in Eagle Pass, a small city of 28,000, have pleaded for the federal and state governments to come together to tackle the crisis. Meanwhile, a convoy of conservative activists , who call themselves 'God's Army', has set off for the southern border on Monday to protest the numbers of migrants entering the country illegally. Dozens of people joined the self-styled grassroots movement 'Take Our Border Back' in Norfolk, Virginia where organizers slammed the Biden administration for leaving the U.S. frontiers 'wide open.'

On Wednesday they were scheduled to travel from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Dripping Springs, Texas, which is about four hours from Eagle Pass. Figures from the US Customs and Border Protection show that more than 2.5 million people entered this country through its southwestern border in 2023. Lawmakers in Congress are also refusing to sign off on Joe Biden's aid packages for Ukraine and Israel without tougher anti-immigration measures.

A deal currently being hammered out would require the federal government to shut the border if 5,000 migrants sneak into the United States each day. It will also ban migrants from claiming asylum if they cross over illegally and they could be faced with deportation to Mexico or their home country. In December, federal agents recorded multiple days when more than 10,000 people made illicit crossings into this country. Texas troopers and National Guard members have kept a large presence at Shelby Park since last summer, when thousands of migrants were crossing illegally crossing from Mexico.

Crossings have decreased notably since the start of January, not only in Eagle Pass but elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border. But nearly two weeks into the start of the year, the state told the Eagle Pass mayor that it would be closing access to Shelby Park, even though the land is owned by the City of Eagle Pass. Mayor Salinas previously said in a video published on his social media that he was not given an explanation over the timing and was not aware of when the public would have access to the popular recreation area. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13029801/Eagle-Pass-mayor-migrant-showdown-Biden.html?ito=msngallery

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