Exclusive: Ken Paxton rejects Biden admin’s demands to give up control of border area

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to the Biden administration Wednesday reiterating the state’s unwillingness to relinquish control of property along the southern border to federal authorities, according to a copy of the letter first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Biden administration sent a letter to Paxton Sunday, demanding that Texas stop its efforts to prevent Border Patrol from accessing the property of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass by Wednesday, according to CNN. Paxton says the state will continue to take actions along the border despite ongoing court battles with the Biden administration, including over its razor wire and attempts to arrest migrants for illegal entry, according to his letter.

In recent days, the Biden administration accused Texas of blocking border agents from helping save three drowning migrants in the Rio Grande, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) undercut in a court subsequent court filing showing that federal authorities didn’t inform state authorities until after the drownings.

“On behalf of the State of Texas, I write in response to your demand letter of January 14, 2024, in which you complain about how the Texas Military Department (TMD) recently seized and secured Shelby Park in the City of Eagle Pass, Texas. Your letter misstates both the facts and the law in demanding that Texas surrender to President Biden’s open-border policies,” Paxton wrote.

“Because the facts and law side with Texas, the State will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should stop wasting scarce time and resources suing Texas, and start enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books,” Paxton wrote.

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