After Texas began fencing off parks along the U.S.-Mexico border and removing Border Patrol agents, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott explained why at a campaign stop near Houston.
“We will no longer allow Border Patrol on that property,” Abbott said Friday while endorsing state legislators running for re-election, drawing applause from supporters.
He expressed frustration with immigrants illegally entering the United States through the border city of Eagle Pass and the federal agents who load them onto buses.
“We said, 'We've done it.' We're going to make sure this doesn't happen again,” Abbott said.
Later that night, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that three migrants, including two children, drowned near a park after Texas authorities “physically barred” Border Patrol agents from entering. Mexican authorities pulled the bodies, each wearing a jacket, from the water on the other side of the Rio Grande.
The weekend's death toll heightened tensions between Texas and the Biden administration.
They also sparked fresh criticism from Democrats of Mr. Abbott's aggressive actions to curb illegal immigration, accusing the measures of putting immigrants at risk.
U.S. officials said the drowning highlighted the need for Border Patrol access to the area around Shelby Park, which Texas closed earlier this week.
“U.S. Border Patrol agents must enter our borders to enforce our laws,” White House Press Secretary Angelo Fernández Hernández said in a statement.
On Sunday night, the Texas Department of State Military Affairs issued a statement disputing the U.S. government's account, calling it “completely inaccurate” that state agents prevented Border Patrol agents from rescuing drowning migrants.
“At the time Border Patrol requested access, a drowning had occurred and the body was being recovered by Mexican authorities, and Border Patrol communicated these facts to TMD personnel on scene,” the department said.
The Biden administration on Sunday stuck to its original explanation, saying in a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that Texas denied entry to Border Patrol agents before learning of the migrant's death.
Directly contradicting Texas' account, the Department of Homeland Security said its officials at the time only knew that the migrants were attempting to cross the river.
“Texas will not allow Border Patrol agents to enter its border to conduct law enforcement or emergency response operations, even in the most urgent situations,” said Jonathan E. Meyer, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. I have proven that,” he wrote.
Meyer threatened legal action if Texas did not restore access by Wednesday.
The park is located on a major corridor for immigrants entering the country illegally from Mexico and is the center of Mr. Abbott's aggressive immigration interdiction effort, known as Operation Lone Star.
Migrants are regularly swept to death by the Rio Grande's currents.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a border district in Texas, acknowledged Sunday that state authorities investigated the distress call and searched for the migrants.
“But at the end of the day, Border Patrol was prohibited from entering Shelby Park,” Cuellar said in a statement.
Texas officials said Border Patrol agents requested access to search for other migrants believed to have been with the deceased.
Two people were arrested by National Guard personnel, and one was taken to a doctor for “hypothermia.”
The statement did not say whether Border Patrol agents were allowed into the park.
Thousands of people were illegally entering the United States through Eagle Pass during the summer.
The numbers subsided, but rose again in December as thousands of immigrants overwhelmed federal government coffers.
However, a sharp decline was recorded in early January after Mexico tightened immigration controls.
The 50-acre park is owned by the city, but is used by the state Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of National Guard to patrol border crossings.
Earlier this week, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas questioned why the state would close the park now when daily anxiety in the area has decreased in recent weeks.
He said the state has given city officials no warning and has not given any indication of when parks will reopen.
On Friday, the Justice Department told the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas has taken control of Shelby Park and is not allowing Border Patrol agents there.
The state of Texas acknowledged taking over the city's parks, but told the court the federal government mischaracterized its actions and is working to resolve disputes over access.
Texas has repeatedly come under scrutiny over its efforts to curb border crossings.
Mr. Abbott bussed more than 100,000 migrants into Democratic-led cities during the winter, despite freezing conditions.
He also strung razor wire along the border and installed buoy barriers across the Rio Grande.
Melissa R. Cigarroa, a member of the Laredo City Council and the Coalition Without Borders Coalition, attends a vigil in Shelby Park on Saturday to commemorate the deaths of immigrants killed along the Rio Grande. He was one of the people who did.
He said the protesters passed through the gate with armed National Guard troops, but law enforcement officers and vehicles could be seen gathering near the river.
She said the scene, coupled with the reason for the ceremony, made her think about “how little people's lives matter in these decisions.”
“People are dying and we know that deterrence means nothing,” she said.
___ Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Paul J. Webber in Austin and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this article.
