Eagle Pass, the confrontation ground zero in the United States for control of the border with Mexico International

In 1865, Confederate General John Shelby threw his flag into the waters of the Rio Grande in the small frontier town of Eagle Pass and entered Mexico to seek refuge rather than accept the defeat of his troops. Today Eagle Pass has become the center of a bitter battle with constitutional implications, pitting the federal government against Texas over immigration control; With National Guard soldiers…

In 1865, Confederate General John Shelby threw his flag into the waters of the Rio Grande in the small frontier town of Eagle Pass and entered Mexico to seek refuge rather than accept the defeat of his troops. Today Eagle Pass has become the center of a bitter battle with constitutional implications, pitting the federal government against Texas over immigration control; National Guard troops with the Border Patrol; For Republicans with Democrats. And all these clashes come together at one point: a 19-hectare park on the banks of the Rio Grande that honors the separatist soldier by his name.

Shelby Park was a place where residents of Eagle Pass, a town of 28,000 that votes Democratic, live off trade with Mexico — two bridges connect it to Piedras Negras — and where Spanish is spoken as much or more than English. , they came to gather or walk for fishing, picnics and celebrations. This weekend, a poster advertises a Feb. 28 concert, half musical, half liturgical, by an organization led by the late Reverend Billy Graham, spiritual adviser to many presidents. As things stand, it is difficult to celebrate.

Barbed wire and a wall of containers near the river. Entrances from the street are fenced and blocked by military vehicles. National Guard troops, armed with machine guns, control access and the only way for boats and kayaks in the river. Residents cannot access; And at the behest of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, Border Patrol agents, who until last month used those lands to process the arrival of immigrants crossing the river, can no longer do so either. This decision has canceled the cooperation between the two organizations which was normal.

“And all this catches us in the middle,” sighs Juan Hernandez, who runs a clothing and footwear shop a few hundred meters away. The park’s blockade has turned the area — so busy recently because of its proximity to Shelby and the border post — into an almost haunted area, where there were more local police officers and their vehicles than civilian traffic this weekend. “This is hurting our economy,” laments the trader, who advertises heavy discounts to sell merchandise. “But what we fear more is that there could be an incident where someone loses control.”

The current standoff erupted last month, when Abbott ordered the National Guard to take over Shelby Park after the number of illegal immigrants entering those lands skyrocketed in December. President Joe Biden’s administration appealed that decision in the courts, arguing that it prevented the federally controlled Border Patrol from doing its job. In mid-January, barbed wire fences and other obstacles prevented these agents from rescuing the families of three migrants who drowned, the government alleged.

The Supreme Court agreed with them and ordered the removal of the barbed wire fence. But the governor has interpreted the ruling in the most limited way possible: that border agents can cut it off to help migrants at risk. But in the meantime, he promises to strengthen fences and wires. His argument: that federal government policy favors immigrants to endanger Texas, and that the state has the right to defend itself against what it defines as “invasion.”

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The case creates a political confrontation that goes beyond the conflict between the central government and the state government. Other states, such as Florida, have sent their own National Guard troops to reinforce Texas. This weekend, a motorcade of supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump approached Eagle Pass after traveling halfway across the country to express their support for anti-immigration policies. Abbott himself appeared at a press conference in Eagle Pass this Sunday to defend his policies, along with 14 of the 25 Republican governors who have expressed support for him. Something that caused discomfort to a section of the population.

“As a longtime resident, I’ve never seen anyone better than our governor, and what he’s doing and how he’s using our community, especially for political theater,” retired businessman and educator Jesse Fuentes said in a statement Friday. The leader has never been more offended.” Community leaders press conference. “They appropriated public parks, our parks, our history, our culture. This is where we gather, it is our green space, where we are connected to the river, and we no longer have access to it. And if you walk and look, you can see that it is becoming a military base.

Others in Texas think otherwise. “We are here to support this cause and Governor Abbott. We believe you are doing the right thing. We have to regain control of our borders. We don’t need to let in millions of migrants. When we go to the polls in November, immigration will be our top priority. Second, the right to bear arms,” said David and Sandy, who drove three hours to arrive this Saturday to participate in a rally to welcome the anti-immigrant caravan of Trumpists.

That day, the Mission: Border Hope immigrant shelter temporarily closed its doors. Fearing possible incidents, he moved his residents to other places. The transfer was not difficult: it could accommodate only a handful of people. Arrivals of migrants seeking help, once the Border Patrol released them with summonses to appear in court for a decision on their asylum applications, reached 1,200 a day, and are currently down to only around twenty irregular entries registered in January, which Abbott said was tough and federal. Government and NGOs, attributed to the typical oscillation of the season.

Abbott’s resistance came as a group of Republican and Democratic senators in Washington agreed on a bill that would overhaul the current immigration system to introduce tougher controls. Among other things, they would give Biden the authority to “close the border,” as he himself has declared, if detections of irregular migrants exceed 8,500 in a single day or reach a daily average of 5,000 in a week. These measures will make it more difficult to apply for asylum in the United States, as most migrants who enter the country irregularly.

But the success of that bill remains to be seen. It needs a “yes” vote from nine Republicans in the Senate. In an election year, Republican lawmakers are reluctant to allow anything that could be interpreted as a success for Biden. Donald Trump, the former Republican president who aspires to return to the White House in November, opposes the move, while he wants to make immigration a key campaign issue. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has already confirmed that the senators’ proposal is “stillborn” in this forum. Republicans in the lower House have begun the process of trying to start an impeachment trial against Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of Homeland Security and head of immigration policy.

The conversation continues. And diplomatic negotiations are intensifying. A White House statement said that this Saturday, Biden spoke by phone with the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to discuss migration and “shared challenges along the common border.” The dialogue, in which the American thanked his counterpart, “for taking concrete measures to prevent irregular migration, while expanding operational support and legal channels,” followed the meeting of representatives of the two governments in Mexico and Washington over the past two months. In this matter.

Meanwhile, Eagle Pass residents hope the standoff between the federal and state governments will be resolved as soon as possible. “We want to continue with our lives,” Juan Hernandez urges his customers to take advantage of his store’s sales, with a half-smile.

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