The latest twist in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's border war with Joe Biden has led to a ban on Border Patrol agents at key border crossings – but not golfers.
On Thursday, players could be seen in golf carts enjoying relaxing games on the nine-hole course at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Located on the U.S. bank of the Rio Grande, Shelby Park was seized by Texas on Jan. 10 after Gov. Abbott claimed the Biden administration had not done enough to stem the flow of migrants from nearby Mexico.
That resulted in Border Patrol agents employed by the federal government being banned from patrolling the park, which is the second busiest border crossing in the U.S. for intercepting illegal migrants after Lukeville, Arizona.
Biden administration officials have since demanded that Texas give up control of the 2.5-mile stretch of city-owned land by Friday.
But the high-stakes drama appeared to have had little to no impact on those playing a round of golf on Thursday night.
Despite a standoff between federal border patrol agents and Texas state troopers in Eagle Pass, Texas, golfers have been allowed into the fenced-in Shelby Park
Border Patrol agents are not allowed access to the same area where golfers enjoyed sunny weather Thursday afternoon
Despite miles of fencing and barbed wire at Shelby Park, ordinary citizens were still allowed onto the property
Border Patrol agents, federal law enforcement officers under the Biden administration who are tasked with apprehending migrants and securing the border, have been kicked out.
“It’s a powder keg,” U.S. Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents Eagle Pass, told Fox News.
“I stand with the governor.” There are Americans who stand with Texas and say, “Hey, we have to wait, we have to make sure that there is some impact on those who are coming over illegally.”
For years, golfers and border patrol agents have coexisted on the green — showing the complex reality of border towns — where migrants crawl through barbed wire that tears through their flesh, just feet from where Americans practice this noble sport.
Since 2021, Texas communities along the border have watched as nearly 4 million migrants streamed across the border, according to federal statistics, with many risking their lives to get into the United States.
A group of Venezuelans used cardboard on their backs to avoid cuts as they crawled under a barbed wire barrier designed to stop migrants from entering El Paso, Texas
Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. gather near barbed wire designed to prevent migrants from crossing into the U.S. as they attempt to be processed from Ciudad Juarez by U.S. Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas , Mexico, January 23, 2024
Clara Morales and her daughter Yuridia, migrants from Guatemala seeking asylum in the United States, hug in front of barbed wire erected to prevent migrants from crossing into the United States, seen from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
In Eagle Pass and other migrant hotspots in the Lone Star State, authorities have laid miles of concertina and barbed wire to address the border crisis.
But it didn't stop her at all.
Instead, migrants have resorted to climbing over, crawling under, or dragging themselves (and sometimes babies and children) through the dangerous wire in order to have the opportunity to surrender to border patrol agents and seek asylum.
By law, migrants seeking asylum must be given the opportunity to argue their case in court – a process that can take years.
Meanwhile, asylum seekers are being released into the U.S. while they await their court dates, even if they entered the country illegally.
The continuous waves of migrants have hit Eagle Pass, a town of just 28,000 people, hard.
Texas took control of Shelby Park on January 10th (pictured above). Since then, border guards have been denied unrestricted access to the park
The Supreme Court did not rule that the wire fence erected in Texas was illegal. The Supreme Court said only that federal agents could shorten or move it if necessary
Texas has installed barbed wire in Shelby Park in the migrant hotspot of Eagle Pass, Texas, for more than a year
Last month, 22,000 migrants crossed the river that separates the United States from Mexico to Eagle Pass in one week.
Now the city-owned park in Eagle Pass, Texas, is at the center of a political and legal dispute over whether Texas alone can decide that the federal government isn't doing enough to secure the border.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol agents can cut razor wire in Texas if they deem it necessary.
The Biden administration called on Texas to stand down, but Abbott responded by claiming that Texas was being invaded by migrants.
The governor also added that his state has the authority to override federal law because the federal government has failed in its duty to his state by failing to stop the flow of migrants.
“There is no support in our history, there is no support in other materials for the idea that states can decide for themselves whether to be attacked,” Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, told PBS.
“In our constitutional system, for better or worse, federal law takes precedence over state law, even if we don't like how the federal government does or doesn't enforce those federal laws.” The solution to these disagreements is not to allow each state to act on its own and to pursue his own politics.