25 states and Federal Border Patrol Union side with Texas

Showdown at Shelby Park?

Federal border patrol agents have stated that they will comply with what they called the Texas National Guard's “lawful orders” to prevent them from entering Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas to process illegal aliens coming through the border there. This decision comes despite a demand from the Biden Administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) giving Texas Governor Greg Abbott until this past Friday, January 26, to allow them full access to the park, as reported by Jack Davis for The Western Journal. 

Abbot disregarded the deadline and, instead, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a letter to Jonathan Meyer, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, rejecting the department's demand:

“Presumably because you have no meaningful response to our letter, your latest letter abandons earlier factual assertions, asserts new ones, and supplies even less of a legal basis for your demand. Once again, I respectfully suggest that any time you might spend suing Texas should be redirected toward enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books,” Paxton wrote.

The letter shot holes in federal claims that it has rights to some areas of the park, mocking a “home-cooked map” purporting to show land the federal government owns, saying, “publicly available records suggest the United States does not even purport to own what your latest letter claims.” 

The Border Patrol Union posted, what Davis termed a “defiant message” on X stating that they are not going to arrest Texas National Guards despite any orders they may have to do so:

Background

Over the past three years, the Biden Administration has allowed for the release, after capture, of 6.2 million illegal aliens into the country. The magnitude of the problem has been illustrated through proportional examples such as Epoch TV's Senior Producer Roman Balmakov's calculation that if the illegal aliens were to form their own state, it would be the 18th largest state in the Union.

Governor Abbot, for his part, explained that the number of illegal aliens crossing in just three years was, “more than the population of 33 different States in this country.” Abbott wrote this in a letter that he tweeted on X in which he explained that his state has a constitutional duty of self-defense against an invasion of illegal aliens, prompting him to address the problem by installing rolls of razor-wire fencing along parts of the Texas border with Mexico. Abbott stated that the Executive Branch has failed “to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.” He "has ignored Texas’s demand that he perform his constitutional duty.” 

Constitutional crisis?

This showdown over Shelby Park is part of an ongoing dispute between the State of Texas and the Biden Administration over control of the border. While Texas asserts its right to construct a border obstacle the White House wants to tear that obstacle down, preventing Texas from stopping the federal government from allowing the entry, capture, and release process to continue. 

ScotusBlog describes how the dispute made it to the Supreme Court, which, for now, has ruled against Texas:

In October, the state went to federal court, where it argued that Border Patrol agents violated state laws when they cut or moved the fencing.

On Dec. 19, a federal appeals court in New Orleans issued an order that, except in cases of medical emergencies, temporarily barred Border Patrol agents from cutting or moving the wire in the area around the city of Eagle Pass.

That order prompted the Biden administration to come to the Supreme Court on Jan. 2, asking the justices to intervene. . . .

The court granted [the federal government]’s request with its order on Monday afternoon. The Biden administration needed five votes to freeze the 5th Circuit’s order, which means that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett would have joined the court’s three liberal justices in voting to grant relief. [Emphases added].

Illegals come from all over the world

USA Facts shows, in the below graph, that most people crossing the border into the U.S. originate from countries other than those south of the border, with the largest number coming from Asia. While federal officials may refer to the illegal aliens as refugees and asylum seekers, only 34% actually left danger zones and even those were already out of danger when they crossed the border from Mexico:

States to lend Texas a helping hand?

25 Republican governors have sided with Abbott. As shown in the Fox Business video below, Trump is encouraging them to send their Guards to Texas to assist the state in securing the border. A convoy of trucks, with drivers calling themselves “God's Army,” is also traveling to Texas to support them.