Texas AG Ken Paxton says state won’t comply with Biden administration order to reopen park to federal agents

 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday his state has no plans to comply with an order from the Biden administration to grant Border Patrol agents access to a riverfront park that is at the center of a border dispute. 

The defiance comes in the wake of a Supreme Court decision earlier this week that cleared the way for Border Patrol agents to cut or remove razor wire Texas had installed around Shelby Park. The area has become a popular corridor for migrants to illegally enter the U.S.  

Texas seized control of the park this month and began denying entry to Border Patrol agents, escalating a feud between Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration, which the governor accuses of not doing enough to curb illegal crossings.

After the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday, Texas said it would be installing more rows of razor wire. The fencing has become one of Abbott's most visible measures to deter migrants in the border city of Eagle Pass.

Paxton cast doubts on the prospect of a physical confrontation between state and federal officials, predicting that the matter would play itself out in the courts. 

That prediction is shared by National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera, who also told Fox News on Thursday you’d be "hard-pressed" to get a Border Patrol agent to go up against their counterparts, i.e., Texas National Guard, on the ground.