Eagle Pass mayor, citing migrant surge, reinstates order allowing trespass arrests at park

The mayor of the border city of Eagle Pass has reinstated the order he and the city council rescinded in August allowing the Texas Department of Public Safety to once again make criminal trespass arrests for migrants who cross from Mexico to the city's signature public park.

The move, which includes a declaration of a local emergency by Mayor Rolando Salinas on Tuesday, comes in response to "the severe undocumented immigrants surge" into the city of almost 29,000 that sits along the Rio Grande 140 miles west of San Antonio, according to a statement by the city.

"The city of Eagle Pass is committed to the safety and well being of our local citizens," Salinas said in a news release. "The emergency declaration grants us the ability to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of undocumented immigrants."

When Salinas in July signed an order declaring the city's riverside Shelby Park to be "private property" and allowing DPS and other law enforcement organizations to arrest migrants who reached shore it caused an uproar that rippled from the city to across the state. The 47-acre park beneath the international bridge had already been transformed into a militarized staging area or Gov. Greg Abbott's multibillion-dollar border security initiative dubbed Operation Lone Star.

After a sometimes emotional public hearing by the Eagle Pass city council, the order was rescinded as several residents said the action painted the community as uncaring.

DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for the statewide law enforcement organization, praised Salinas' actions, saying in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the mayor is "working tirelessly for the well-being of the community" and added that "a caravan of nearly 4,000 migrants arrived at the border near Eagle Pass" on Wednesday.

More: Watching migrants struggle to cross the Rio Grande hit close to home for reporter covering the controversy.

DPS troopers and Guard soldiers in Eagle Pass "will regain control, support local, county, & federal authorities, & maintain an enforcement posture," Olivarez said in the post.

The city has been in the national headlines since early summer after Abbott installed a string of oversized buoys in the river about two miles downstream of the city's international bridge. The 1,000-foot chain is anchored to the riverbed by more than 100 tons of concrete block beneath a metal mesh to discourage anyone from attempting to swim underneath it.

Late Wednesday, Abbott accused the Democratic Biden administration of "opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants" as he posted a video clip on social media of Border Patrol agents using wire-cutting shears to tear state-installed concertina wire from the banks of the Rio Grande to allow several migrants to reach the Texas shore.

The one-minute, 37-second clip was posted to X just before 5 p.m. Central Time Wednesday and Abbott said it was taken near Eagle Pass, which has become the focal point for the governor's efforts to slow down unlawful migration in South Texas as part of Operation Lone Star.

"Texas installed razor wire in Eagle Pass to stop illegal crossings. Today the Biden Admin CUT that wire, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants," Abbott said in the post. "I immediately deployed more Texas National Guard to repel illegal crossings & install more razor wire."

Abbott's public information representatives did not immediately return a text message asking for further explanations about the video and how many more Guard soldiers and feet of razor wire were deployed to the region in response to Border Patrol's actions. A spokesman for the Border Patrol sector also did not turn a call or an email seeking additional information.

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The clip shows two uniformed agents at the riverbank working through thick vegetation while several people can be seen between them and water. One of the agents lops through the coiled wire and then both men drag away the string of metal using a yellow rope to clear a path. Six people, each carrying bags or backpacks, are seen coming up the riverbank toward what appears to be a Patrol vehicle.

The clip ends before showing what became of the people after that.

Meanwhile, the international commission that oversees boundary issues between the United States and Mexico has formally declared in new court documents that the controversial chain of buoys is now on the Texas side of the Rio Grande.

A survey by representatives from the US and Mexico was conducted after Texas moved the chain after an earlier survey showed most of it was actually in Mexico.

This comes as Texas and the DOJ prepare for a court hearing on whether the buoys most be moved to the Texas-side shoreline. The Oct. 6 hearing before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal is a preliminary step in the larger lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department against Abbott and the state of Texas asserting that the placement of the buoys violates a federal law that requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to sign off on such a project.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, @JohnnieMo.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Eagle Pass mayor declares emergency over surge in unlawful migration