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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- | ||||
| 1000s of migrants pour in as extraordinary stand-off erupts between Federal Border Patrol and local forces who don't trust Biden's White House to keep out the masses: TOM LEONARD sees troubling echoes of the American Civil War in small-town Texas | ||||
| 2024-01-30 | ||||
Given the endless strife along America's southern frontier a few hundred yards away, it's not an unexpected sight in this rough-and-ready border town. But these troops are not facing Mexico. Instead, they're staring back towards the Texan town of Eagle Pass — and the rest of America.
The remarkable scenes that the Mail witnessed stem from a highly provocative decision this month by Texas's Republican Governor, Greg Abbott, to order armed troops and police to take control of Eagle Pass's 47-acre Shelby Park — a critical entry point for undocumented migrants — and freeze out the Border Patrol. Since Biden was elected, Abbott has lambasted the Democrats for doing much to encourage the migration crisis. During his election campaign, the President vowed to 'restore [America's] moral standing in the world and our historic role as a safe haven for refugees and asylum seekers': music to the ears of Left-wing voters and, fatally, would-be immigrants, too. Rather than sneak into the U.S. and go into hiding, most migrants know that the first thing they need to do is find a Border Patrolman and request asylum. They will then be swiftly processed and released into the care of a non-governmental organisation. They can legally remain and work in the U.S. until their application is decided — a process that often takes years.
A few months earlier, Abbott had ordered a 1,000-ft string of buoys, separated by serrated metal plates akin to circular saw blades and supporting a submerged mesh net, to be installed near Eagle Pass in the Rio Grande, the river that marks the border between Texas and Mexico. The move sparked outrage from the Mexican government and human rights groups. Then, just over two weeks ago, Abbott took what many regarded as the nuclear option and decided to enforce his views down the barrel of a gun. National Guardsmen occupied Shelby Park overnight and — against the wishes of the town, which owns the park — started strengthening fortifications against both migrants and federal agents. Announcing that it was taking over the park indefinitely both to stop asylum seekers entering and to block 'organisations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings', the Texas Military Department left little doubt that it meant the hapless agencies of the Biden administration. As commander-in-chief of the 18,000-strong Texas Army National Guard — and, in emergencies, of its state police — Abbott has been able to flood the park's 2.5-mile stretch along the river with manpower and hardware such as searchlights and cameras. He has barred entry by Border Patrol officers despite the federal agency being tasked with policing the border. It once used the park as a key migrant holding area. The park has been closed to everyone else except, bizarrely, members of its golf course, who are still allowed to play. More than 150 years ago, a dispute over slavery between southern states and the federal government eventually turned into the horrific American Civil War, which lasted for four years and saw at least 620,000 soldiers killed. In that conflict, Texas sided with the confederate rebels against Washington. And although the current stand-off has yet to boil over into violence, some say Abbott — who shares those Civil War confederates' obsession with states' rights — is playing with fire. Last week, the Mail gained permission to enter the park and was given a guided tour by the Texas National Guard, which showed off its fearsome river defences. A wall of shipping containers is already in place but the concertina wire on top of them is easily overcome by migrants, I was told. So guardsmen are now replacing this with three rows of even more wicked-looking razor wire. The work continued apace despite a Supreme Court ruling only the previous day that Border Patrol agents could cut the wire down on the grounds it endangers safety and hampers efforts to rescue migrants struggling in the river. Meanwhile, National Guard and state police in dinghies and fan-driven air boats — reinforced by Florida police units lent by Governor Ron DeSantis, of one mind with Abbott on immigration — are patrolling the Rio Grande. They and their colleagues on shore provide a less-than-affable welcome to asylum seekers. Although state police currently arrest adults for trespass — families are spared as the children cannot be arrested — they still have to hand them to Border Patrol agents. However, Abbott has just passed controversial legislation making illegally crossing the border a state crime punishable by up to six months in jail. The law allows a judge to drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico. | ||||
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #13 Gee, if we quit funding the UN, what would they use to pay migrants? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2024-01-30 17:39 |
| #12 I'm still going with mining the border 1/2 mile deep. If they make it through, they can stay. |
| Posted by: Chris 2024-01-30 14:01 |
| #11 Don’t believe the lies: The UN is paying illegals using US taxpayer cash |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2024-01-30 12:09 |
| #10 It's a passive deterrent, readily circumvented. You know what is not a passive deterrent, readily circumvented? Autonomous robot dogs with fricken' machine guns on their heads. Sic 'em, Fido! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2024-01-30 10:42 |
| #9 It is now pot luck for migrants who do try to cross as to whether they run into federal Border Patrol or the Texas units, who wear similar uniforms and ride around in similar boats I don't know which way to go with that photo caption... |
| Posted by: Bobby 2024-01-30 10:34 |
| #8 ^It's a passive deterrent, readily circumvented. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-01-30 09:26 |
| #7 What happened to good old fashioned razor wire that cuts ya to shit ya know the stuff with giant blades? |
| Posted by: Jack Creanter7508 2024-01-30 09:19 |
| #6 I hate coconut on donuts! ;-) In gratitude, Harmsworths, let's sit At your table of pricetag-free wit... If our eyeballs are meet, For we're all what we eat, And a goodie that's gratis? You're it! Not that I'm not grateful to Skidmark for scouring the Mail. Feels like getting clippings of comics from Einstein, and me an illiterate. |
| Posted by: Count Galeazzo Grelet1495 2024-01-30 09:04 |
| #5 The parasites don't grasp that overwhelming the host will kill it and any freebies or opportunity they sought. Thus is but human nature. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-01-30 08:50 |
| #4 You silly Mailphobes... I'm reminded of complaints about the box in which free, coconut frosted chocolate cake donuts are found. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-01-30 07:39 |
| #3 less-than-affable welcome to asylum seekers The what??? |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-01-30 06:18 |
| #2 Oh goodness, pass the tea and smelling salts, dear. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2024-01-30 06:05 |
| #1 Footage emerges of migrants leaving SUVs before entering US illegally |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-01-30 00:22 |