Texas Military takes over Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, limits federal border authorities' access
EAGLE PASS — CBS News Texas was granted access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass where the Texas Military Department has taken over and limited access to federal border authorities.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is the only agency with full access to the site, and as of a few nights ago, they've started arresting migrants who cross illegally into Shelby Park on charges of criminal trespass.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Rene Cordova said, "The only people that they are arresting are single females, single males, but they must be at least 18 years of age."
Sgt. Cordova said these arrests come under new authority granted by a recent disaster declaration made by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
He said the criminal trespass arrest authority is separate from the SB 4 legislation which was recently signed into law but is currently caught up in legal disputes.
SB4 would give Texas law enforcement the power to arrest those who cross the border illegally if they witness it. The recent Shelby Park arrests are solely based on trespassing onto private property, according to Sgt. Cordova.
He added that the new arrest powers are to serve as a deterrent for others wanting to cross the border illegally into Shelby Park.
He said, "Once you start enforcing that law, the word will get out real quick and it will start deterring people away from this area."
Shelby Park previously served as a processing center for the U.S Border Patrol, but since the seizure of the park by the Texas Military Department on order of Governor Abbott, the Border Patrol has been limited to only having boat ramp access at the park.
Texas Military Department officials wouldn't give official interviews, but would only speak on background, saying their presence and efforts inside Shelby Park have dramatically cut down the amounts of illegal border crossings in that area.
Eagle Pass resident and member of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition, America Garcia, says this recent enforcement effort at Shelby Park is too heavy-handed.
"I would not have expected all of this," says Garcia.
"That this was possible in a democratic country. It just doesn't seem like something that we would do."
She wants the tension between federal and state law enforcement at Shelby Park to end.
"I want the people from Texas Military and department of public safety to go home…they are not from here."
Sgt. Cordova addressed the future of these operations saying, "I don't see this going away anytime soon until there is a change higher up. This is not a situation that is going to go away overnight."
Earlier this week, U.S. officials sent a cease and desist order to the state of Texas demanding the Texas Military Department leave Shelby Park and stop blocking the Border Patrol from having access to it.