MAYOR: TEXAS CLOSED PARK WITHOUT PERMISSION
The mayor of a Texas border city at the center of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's measures to curb migrant crossings accused the state Thursday of a new escalation as state troopers closed a large public park along the Rio Grande without asking permission.
The park is a new tension point in Eagle Pass, where large waves of migrant arrivals last month temporarily closed a rail crossing and overwhelmed shelters. U.S. Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas visited Eagle Pass on Monday, days after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson toured the border city.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas questioned why the state closed the 50acre park now, since daily apprehensions in the region have fallen in recent weeks. Shelby Park touches the river, includes a ramp for boaters and has been used by the state to stage vehicles and equipment for its border mission known as Operation Lone Star.
Salinas said the state gave Eagle Pass officials no warning and offered no timetable on when the park would reopen. He said a DPS official told him the state was taking custody of the park through a disaster declaration, an authority Texas officials have used before on the border.
“That is not a decision that we agreed to,” Salinas said. “This is not something that we wanted. This is not something that we asked for as a city.”
Asked about the closure, Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze did not address the park or the mayor's comments and instead reiterated criticism of President Joe Biden's immigration policies.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment.
Eagle Pass is in the path of totality for the total solar eclipse in April. Salinas said the city has invested $1 million for a planned festival in the park and expressed worry over the closure disrupting those plans.