Eagle Pass to review decision to make a public park 'private' so migrants can be arrested
The city council of the border town of Eagle Pass will meet behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss whether to uphold or rescind the order signed by the mayor to declare a public park private so that migrants crossing from Texas could be charged with criminal trespass.
Mayor Rolando Salinas, acting without a vote of the council, signed an affidavit in June at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety to declare that the city's Shelby Park was private property under his authority.
The declaration has led to more than 400 criminal trespass charges being filed against migrants who have been apprehended on the bucolic 47-acre tract south of downtown Eagle Pass and alongside an international bridge.
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid is defending many of the arrested migrants, saying "there is no basis" in law that allows trespassing charges against people who access a public park.
The park and its public boat ramp has been largely off limits to Eagle Pass residents while uniformed National Guard soldiers along with DPS troopers with military style vehicles and watercraft conduct patrols watching for unlawful crossings.
More: Eagle Pass mayor declares public city park 'private property' so DPS can arrest migrants
The Eagle Pass Border Coalition said Monday it plans to hold an event on the steps of the town's city hall to speak against the affidavit one hour before the council meeting.
"The move has touched a nerve with Eagle Pass residents because they are now excluded from use and access to their own park and public boat ramp by Operation Lone Star officers and Texas National Guard soldiers," the organization said in a news advisory.
Jessie Fuentes, whose canoe and kayaking company has essentially been shuttered because of limited or no access to the Rio Grande, has filed suit against the state of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott over the placement of river-crossing buoys in the river near Eagle Pass and other initiatives taken without the consent of federal authorities.
More: Feds ask court to order removal of floating barrier from Rio Grande as lawsuit proceeds
“No one speaks for the Rio Grande concerning these controversial measures being undertaken, so I have chosen to speak and represent the river as its advocate to protect it for current and future generations of people, wildlife, and fauna who depend on it," Fuentes said.
Salinas earlier this month in an interview that his city has become the eye of the immigration storm in South Texas because of publicity generated by the buoys' installation and by the U.S. Justice Department's lawsuit against Texas and Abbott.
He said Eagle Pass "is caught in the middle" of the long-running feud between the Republican Abbott and Democratic President Joe Biden. He said he supports efforts to stem the tide of unlawful immigration into his city of 28,000 residents about 145 miles west of San Antonio, but has concerns about reports of migrants being injured by the state-placed razor wire and recent reports of migrants drowning while attempting to cross the river.
Salinas did not immediately respond to a call for comment on the council's upcoming action.
After the closed-door meeting, the council in open session may act "to affirm, rescind, terminate, modify, and/or renegotiate the terms" of the affidavit signed by the mayor, the council's agenda states.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Eagle Pass reviews mayor declaring public park 'private property'
