Texas blocks US border patrol, Biden govt asks Supreme Court to intervene

Houston, Jan 13 (IANS) Texas has blocked US Border Patrol agents from a section of the US-Mexico border, according to a court filing by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is seeking the US Supreme Court to intervene.

In the filing to the Supreme Court, the DOJ said that Texas, which borders Mexico, denied Border Patrol agents entry to a park which includes a 2.5-mile stretch of the Rio Grande border river and a boat ramp in Eagle Pass, western Texas, Xinhua news agency reported.

The federal agents routinely use a boat ramp and a staging area at the park to launch their boats to patrol the Rio Grande and inspect migrants entering this part of the border respectively, according to the document released on Friday.

"Texas's new actions since the government's filing demonstrate an escalation of the state's measures to block Border Patrol's ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies," Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the DOJ's solicitor general, wrote in the filing.

The DOJ is asking the Supreme Court to intervene in an ongoing legal battle between the state and the federal government and overrule a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that prevents Border Patrol agents from cutting the concertina wire Texas has strung along the Rio Grande.

Texas troopers and National Guard members began to take "full control" of the 47-acre Shelby Park on Wednesday night, erecting concertina wire and fencing at the park to close off access to the public, the Texas Tribune reported.

Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said he was told that the park would be closed indefinitely and the state government took the action to prevent immigrants from crossing into Texas.