Texas Border Town Rescinds Agreement Allowing Trespass Arrests of Migrants

EAGLE PASS, Texas — The Eagle Pass City Council voted unanimously to rescind an agreement with the State of Texas designating a public park as private property under the control of the Department of Public Safety. The designation allowed Texas law enforcement authorities to post “Private Property” signs within the park and facilitated the prosecution of migrants for criminal trespass.

Mayor Rolando Salinas entered into the agreement in June after being approached by the state. The agreement came under Texas Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border security initiative. The agreement resulted in migrants being jailed for criminal trespass after crossing the Rio Grande and entering the Shelby Park grounds.

The charge of criminal trespass in Texas is considered a Class B misdemeanor and can carry a fine of up to $2,000 or up to 180 days of jail without enhancements. Most migrants charged under the offense plead guilty and are turned over to the Border Patrol to face administrative disposition of their immigration or asylum claims.

The termination of the agreement will now result in migrants being immediately transferred to Border Patrol custody in lieu of criminal prosecution by Texas law enforcement authorities. During the meeting, Mayor Salinas lamented the position the city had been placed in due to a failure by the federal government to secure the border.

As the motion was raised to terminate the agreement with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Mayor Salinas told attendees, “To be honest, this isn’t an issue the council, the City of Eagle Pass has to try and solve.” Salinas added:

We were put in the middle by a failing federal government, and here we are; we have to make decisions. That affidavit was signed, and it wasn’t an easy decision. I feel that some people have legitimate claims to asylum, and I feel that some people don’t.

As reported by Breitbart Texas, the agreement allowed for Texas DPS troopers to begin an enhanced prosecution program designed to deter illegal entries on the city property near ports of entry. Since the program’s start, the state has faced criticism regarding developments in and around Eagle Pass.

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The state came under fire after facing allegations regarding the treatment of migrants in Eagle Pass who continued to cross the Rio Grande despite DPS’s placement of shipping containers and concertina wire to deter crossings.

In an email to his superiors in July, a DPS trooper alleged he was ordered to “push people (migrants) back into the water to go to Mexico.” He also expressed concern over an order to “not give people water.” The incidents alleged in the email are currently under investigation by the DPS Office of the Inspector General, Breitbart Texas reported.

Governor Abbott is also facing a lawsuit by the Biden Administration over the placement of a floating border barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande just south of the city. The lawsuit was filed in July after Abbott refused to remove the barrier at the request of the Biden Department of Justice.

Eagle Pass, located in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector, has been the epicenter of the border crisis as migrant crossings often eclipse other southwest border areas. Migrant groups numbering in the hundreds have crossed the Rio Grande hoping to gain release into the United States in pursuit of asylum. In July, Del Rio Sector agents apprehended nearly 25,000 migrants.

On the day that the Eagle Pass City Council voted to rescind the agreement, agents in the Del Rio Sector apprehended more than 900 migrants.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.