The Texas town under ‘martial law’: Eagle Pass residents reveal how cops and troops are seizing their property and questioning locals as it stands at the epicenter of the migrant crisis

Residents of a Texas border town have revealed how police and National Guard troops have taken control and seized their property as migrant trash lines the streets.

Eagle Pass, home to 28,500 Texans, has become the starting point for the nationwide political battle as droves of lawmakers, celebrities and journalists converge to weigh in on the spiraling migrant border crisis.

Illegal migrant crossings have overwhelmed nearly every sector in Eagle Pass — but so have state and federal responses, weary residents say. The Del Rio sector, which includes Eagle Pass, reported 16,718 migrant arrests in January.

Eagle Pass resident Jessie Fuentes, 63, a kayaking company owner whose lifeblood is the water, told the Dallas Morning News about the Rio Grande: ‘We can’t even see it. We can’t even touch it.’

Because the banks and parks leading to the river have been under state control for over a month, Fuentes’ kayaking services are now only used by journalists. His business is failing – and he’s not alone.

Of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Fuentes said, “He’s abusive, he’s cruel and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care what happens in our community. The community did not sign up for this.”

The National Guard has captured the 47-acre Shelby Park – a once-thriving local tract of land that was a gateway to the only public boat ramp. Even Federal Border Patrol agents are not allowed to enter under Abbott’s orders.

Abbott said at a press conference on February 4: “We are not going to limit ourselves to this park. We are expanding into other areas to ensure that we will increase our level of deterrence and denial of illegal entry into the United States.”

He said Shelby Park will remain under state control “as long as necessary to maintain security and eliminate border crossings.”

Locals Magali Urbina and her husband Hugo own a pecan orchard on the Rio Grande, but the movement of people from the border has made their lives miserable.

Not only did migrants cross directly into their country, but they also found it difficult when Operation Lone Star forced itself onto their turf to quell the situation.

The National Guard regularly arrests migrants on their property, but the couple has also been stopped and questioned for being on their own property.

Urbina told the Dallas Morning News, “It bothers me. I want them all off my property,” she said. ‘I want my property back. They take over because they want to.”

She said parts of her country have been bulldozed, closed off and cordoned off with barbed wire as part of the effort to stop the movement of people.

While some residents welcome Texas’ actions, the city will have to reconsider major events planned for Shelby Park in the coming year, including a festival in March and a solar eclipse in April that could draw 50,000 visitors, said Margie Montoya, the interim director of Texas. according to the Eagle Pass Chamber of Commerce.

Baseball leagues for children will start soon and will likely have to find other locations to play, she said.

Laurel Cadena, a 22-year-old Eagle Pass resident, often enjoys going to the Main Street mall with her newborn daughter — and she said she has noticed an increase in the number of migrant shoppers shopping for all their essentials after arriving. The United States.

In addition to the local park, the city’s hotel parking lots have also been overrun by Texas Department of Public Safety personnel and their SUVs, while restaurant chains like Chick-fil-A and Starbucks are overrun with troopers and soldiers.

Hospital rooms have been filled by the thousands of migrants arriving, and the litter that comes with their perilous journey has also become controversial for Eagle Pass residents.

Mountains of dirty, wet clothes are thrown along the highways, while teddy bears and other belongings that have made the border journey lie messy on the sidewalks.

Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said, “(Mexico) is being more aggressive in their tactics to deter people from coming to the border.

“I’m not happy with the federal government, and if you let thousands of people cross without consequences, I’m not in favor of that. However, the city didn’t come out and say, ‘Hey, please take our park.'”

Not only has Eagle Pass become a backdrop for politicians to fly in, make a statement and leave, but diehard Republicans and individuals opposed to the migrant crossings have also descended on the city.

Last weekend, hundreds of anti-illegal immigration protesters descended on a ranch near Eagle Pass to show their support for Trump, an immigration hardliner and the Republican Party’s leading candidate to challenge Biden.

Some demonstrators drove through downtown on Sunday with pickup trucks decorated with pro-Trump and far-right messages. Biden defeated Trump in Maverick County, where Eagle Pass is located, in 2020 despite losing the state to Trump.

Despite the intense political climate, the number of migrants attempting to cross the border fell in January, especially in Eagle Pass and surrounding areas.

The decline was largely related to a drop in the number of Venezuelan migrants after an effort by U.S. and Mexican authorities to disrupt the smuggling networks that transport them, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told Reuters, requesting anonymity to discuss non-public discuss information.

A spokesperson for Mexico’s migration agency said migrant arrivals had “decreased significantly” between December and now due to increased enforcement.

After Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador agreed in mid-December to open a new tab to crack down on migration, Mexican authorities have stepped up efforts to prevent migrants from riding trains and migrants in northern Mexico by air sent to the south of the country. and van.

In Piedras Negras, Mexican National Guard troops guarded the river across from the concertina wire hills on the U.S. side on Sunday.

Migrants outside a nearby shelter said arrivals had fallen sharply in January. Some said they tried to enter the US using the CBP One app, a Biden administration program that opens 1,450 slots a day for migrants to approach a legal border crossing and request entry.