Border Patrol vs Texas National Guard at the Southern border - at odds over a locked gate

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

In Eagle Pass, Texas, Texas National Guardsmen closed and locked a gate located on private property. A short time later, Border Patrol agents unlocked the gate and ushered in the migrants who were waiting on the other side of the barbed wire fence. What is going on here?

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The private property is a pecan orchard. The owners of the property allow both the guardsmen and the Border Patrol agents to work on their property. The Texas National Guard watched as the Border Patrol used a key and unlocked the gate for the migrants. The migrants know that once they put their feet on U.S. soil, they are allowed in and can make a claim for asylum, whether they qualify for it or not. The migrants waiting on the other side of that fence on Wednesday knew that they could just wait it out and they would be allowed to come in and Border Patrol would process them.

As shocking as this is, it is a good example of the difference in how Texas is trying to handle the humanitarian crisis on the Southern border and how the Biden administration is handling it. The Texas National Guard troops are a part of Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. Abbott has increased the number of law enforcement on the border because Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed by the floods of illegal migrants. Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas are not willing to provide additional resources needed to secure the border so it falls to border states to do what they can. Texas taxpayers fund Operation Lone Star. The majority of the operation’s funding goes to the Texas National Guard. The troops that are stationed along the border help state troopers apprehend and jail illegal migrants trespassing on private property.

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In contrast, DHS puts a focus on processing the illegal migrants. Border Patrol agents are pulled away from their stations along the border to process the migrants. They are sitting at desks filling out paperwork instead of being in the field doing what they are trained to do, secure the border. Migrants seek out the Border Patrol agents because they know that the agents will do the paperwork and release them into the country. Few are expelled using Title 42. Most suffer no consequences for breaking the law by illegally entering the United States and go their merry way. It’s catch and release. Border Patrol morale is low.

Some agents have expressed their anger at being taken off the line and instead being forced to process those who have entered the country illegally into the U.S.

“I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but that’s the reality, and let’s see what we can do within that framework,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told frustrated agents in January.

The Biden administration ended the Remain in Mexico agreement from the previous administration. Biden put Kamala Harris in charge of the Southern border and she focuses on root causes of illegal migration. That means she does nothing. Recently, the presidents of the Northern Triangle countries with whom Kamala is allegedly working said they are willing to take more migrants back if they are expelled from the U.S. but Biden has not called them. Nor has Kamala. A simple phone call may provide some relief to border states but the Biden administration isn’t interested in doing anything. The open border is intentional. The Biden border crisis is intentional.

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It is new that Texas is closing that gate and keeping migrants out by locking it. It was kept open in the past. This is probably a measure of the frustration Governor Abbott is feeling after almost two years of being ignored by Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.

Is it any wonder that Texas and Arizona are sending buses of illegal migrants to Washington, D.C. and New York City, both sanctuary cities? The Biden border crisis is unsustainable. I write about the border frequently, as do other conservative bloggers. Fox News Channel is usually the only network that covers the situation on the ground every day. Democrats like open borders and see nothing wrong with it. Governor Abbott responded to the gate being unlocked and reopened.

Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard in March 2021, terming the mission Operation Lone Star. Since then the operation has ramped up to see 10,000 troops deployed along the border.

On Wednesday, he said he was outraged by the CBP’s actions. ‘Unbelievable,’ he tweeted. ‘While Texas secures the border, the federal government is enabling illegal immigration.

‘Biden’s open border policies caused this crisis. The federal government must do its job & fix it.’

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Texas and the other border states are expected to handle the Biden border crisis on their own. It’s a dereliction of duty by both Biden and Mayorkas.

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