Migrant deaths in Rio Grande intensify tensions between Texas, Biden administration over crossings

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — After Texas fenced off a park along the U.S.-Mexico border and began turning away Border Patrol agents, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott explained why during a campaign stop near Houston.

“We will no longer allow Border Patrol on that property,” Abbott said Friday, drawing applause from supporters at a stop for a state lawmaker running for re-election. He expressed frustration with migrants illegally entering the U.S. through the border town of Eagle Pass and federal agents loading them onto buses.

“We said, ‘We’ve had it. We won’t let this happen again,” Abbott said.

Later that evening, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said three migrants, including two children, drowned near the park after Texas Border Patrol officials “physically denied entry” to Border Patrol agents. Mexican authorities pulled the bodies, each wearing a jacket, from the water on the other side of the Rio Grande.

The weekend deaths once again escalated tensions between Texas and the Biden administration. They also unleashed a new round of criticism from Democrats over Abbott’s aggressive actions to curb illegal crossings, saying the measures endanger migrants. U.S. authorities described the drownings as underscoring the need for Border Patrol agents to have access to the area around Shelby Park, which Texas closed earlier this week.

“The U.S. Border Patrol must have access to the border to enforce our laws,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández said in a statement on Sunday.

Spokespeople for Abbott did not return messages seeking comment on Sunday. His office on Saturday referred questions to the Texas Military Department, which said a unit searched the river after being notified by Border Patrol around 9 p.m. Friday that migrants were in distress. Texas authorities did not find anyone in the water, the department said in a statement.

The park is in a key corridor for migrants entering illegally from Mexico and is the focus of Abbott’s aggressive efforts to stop them, known as Operation Lone Star. Migrants are periodically swept away to their deaths by the currents of the Rio Grande.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents a border district in Texas, acknowledged Sunday that administration officials investigated the emergency call and searched for the migrants.

“The bottom line, however, is that Border Patrol was not allowed to enter Shelby Park,” Cuellar said in a statement. “Additionally, Border Patrol was not allowed to investigate the situation and has not been granted access to the area since last week.”

Texas Military Department officials released no further details Sunday and did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Over the summer, thousands of people entered the U.S. illegally through Eagle Pass. The numbers declined but rose again in December, as thousands of migrants flooded federal resources. But a sharp decline was noted in early January after Mexico stepped up immigration enforcement.

The 50-acre park is owned by the city but used by the state Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department to patrol border crossings. Earlier this week, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas questioned why the state has closed the park now, as daily concerns in the region have subsided in recent weeks. He said the state gave city officials no warning or timeline for when the park would reopen.

On Friday, the Justice Department told the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas had taken control of Shelby Park and was not letting Border Patrol agents in. Texas acknowledged that the city park had been seized, but told the court that the federal government had mischaracterized its actions and that it was trying to resolve any disputes over access.

Texas has repeatedly come under scrutiny for efforts to curb border crossings. Abbott has bused more than 100,000 migrants to Democratic-run cities even as frigid conditions developed in the winter. He has also strung barbed wire across the border and erected buoy barriers on the Rio Grande.

Melissa R. Cigarroa, a Laredo city councilwoman and member of the No Border Wall Coalition, was among those who attended a vigil Saturday in Shelby Park to commemorate the deaths of migrants who died along the Rio Grande.

Cigarroa said attendees went through a gate with armed National Guard members and could see law enforcement officers and vehicles gathered near the river.

She said that scene, combined with the reason for the ceremony, made her think about “how little people’s lives matter in these decisions.”

“People are dying, and we now know that deterrents mean nothing,” she said.

___ Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalists Paul J. Weber in Austin and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this story.