Texas Dismisses Fed’s Demand For Full Border Access After Migrant Drownings

The state's attorney general blamed the Biden administration for the recent drownings and called legal threats a waste of time and resources.

Texas has dismissed an order by the Biden administration to allow federal agents full access to a park that was seized by the state along the U.S.-Mexico border last week where three migrants later drowned.

In a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, Texas’ attorney general squarely blamed the federal government for the migrants’ deaths and said his state will not “surrender to President Biden’s open-border policies.”

“The [DHS] should stop wasting scarce time and resources suing Texas, and start enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in his letter.

“Because the facts and law side with Texas, the State will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court,” he added.

The letter follows the Biden administration demanding that the U.S. Border Patrol have “full access” to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, which is city-owned and located along the Rio Grande. The Texas National Guard and the Texas Military Department occupied the park last week, claiming its need for law enforcement and disaster relief purposes amid the state’s ongoing efforts to curb migrants’ illegal entry into the U.S.