U.S. Border Immigration Crisis Passes Through Eagle Pass, Texas

There is bitter irony amid the thousands of migrants surging into Eagle Pass, Texas.

The town on the Rio Grande has been a focal point of the state’s multibillion-dollar border security program, which includes laying razor wire, floating a river barrier between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico, and arresting migrants on trespassing charges in the city. But whatever actions Gov. Greg Abbott takes, the Biden administration has countered in the field and in court.

Abbott accused Border Patrol agents of cutting razor wire installed along Eagle Pass riverbanks by National Guard troops operating under his direction. Though that charge has been disputed, the governor’s assertion that Biden & Co. continue to trigger a mass influx of migrants cannot be in doubt.

Many of the Eagle Pass migrants are Venezuelans, whose countrymen received Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from the administration. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that TPS would not be given to Venezuela nationals arriving after July 31. But Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. reported that current migrants “are coming in with no consequences.”

The Dallas Morning News, which endorsed Biden in 2020 and generally applauds his policies, mocked Mayorkas’ assurances. From behind its paywall, the newspaper thundered:

“The Biden administration said it will make it clear that Venezuelan migrants who came here in August or later wouldn’t be eligible, which officials hope will deter others. That strikes us as either astoundingly naive or an effort to dupe the naive. Venezuelans received TPS in 2021, and two years later another cohort is getting the status. Nothing about U.S. policy is deterring migrants.”

As Salinas declared a state of emergency in his city – for the second time in two years — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, questioned the administration’s deployment of 800 federal troops to help beleaguered Border Patrol agents “process” migrants.

“They’re just helping folks come in. If you don’t detain people, if you don’t send people back, then the border becomes a speed bump,” said Cuellar, who represents the region.

While the administration tries to sink Texas’ floating river buoys in court, and migrants cross virtually unimpeded, Abbott doubled down with one of the few cards he has left: dispatching additional buses to Eagle Pass to transport more migrants out of state. To date, Texas has bused nearly 40,000 aliens to self-declared sanctuary jurisdictions of Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Denver.

(Denver, in turn, is busing migrants to Chicago and New York. Apparently, not all sanctuary cities are equal.)

The “free” rides, along with enforcement efforts under Operation Lone Star, have cost Texas taxpayers some $4 billion, and counting. And still, migrants come in droves.

“It’s been clear for well over two years now that the Biden administration is actively aiding and abetting this invasion,” Chris Russo, president of the watchdog group Texans for Strong Borders, told FAIR last week. “The measures [Abbott] has taken have been constantly undermined by Biden’s DHS.”