A group of migrants clashed with Texas national guard troops over a breach of barbed wire fencing in El Paso on Thursday as they waited to turn themselves in to federal border agents – underscoring the power struggle between the state and federal government over immigration law enforcement.
Video posted on social media showed migrants dragging away a temporary concertina wire barrier which was installed as part of Texas governor Greg Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star publicly-funded state border security program.
Speaking to the El Paso Times, migrants said Texas national guard soldiers were forcefully pushing them back behind the fencing in US territory. In a caption accompanying a video of the border unrest, the Mexican journalist J Omar Ornelas wrote: “Hundreds of migrants were pushed south of the concertina wire in the middle of the night by Texas national guard. Hours later they again breached the concertina and made a rush for the border wall in El Paso, Texas.”
During the unrest, some migrants appeared to raise their hands in surrender while others ran to the federal border wall.
According to an official from the department of homeland security, between 400 and 600 migrants passed through the breached fencing, KERA news in North Texas reports.
In a statement released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency said: “As of 3pm local time, all migrants from this group have been moved from the site. Additional personnel have been deployed to the scene, and the situation is under control. The US Border Patrol continues to monitor the situation and has increased patrols in the area.”
Following the incident, Abbott, who is currently engaged in a power struggle with the federal government over his claiming the state has the right to take immigration enforcement into its own hands, said in a post: “The TX National Guard and Department of Public Safety quickly regained control and are redoubling the razor wire barriers.”
He went on to add: “DPS is instructed to arrest every illegal immigrant involved for criminal trespass and destruction of property.”
Earlier this week, Texas was thrust into a state of confusion after an appeals court blocked a controversial new state law that would allow local police to arrest anyone they believe entered the US illegally – a jurisdiction typically granted to federal immigration authorities, not local police. The freeze came just hours after the US supreme court allowed the law to go into effect, while another appeal is heard.
The law, known as Senate Bill 4 (SB4), has prompted criticisms from the White House, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying: “We fundamentally disagree with the supreme court’s order allowing Texas’s harmful and unconstitutional law to go into effect. SB4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border.”
It has also sparked anger from opponents in communities at the border.
With border problems becoming an increasingly contentious issue as the country prepares for the 2024 presidential elections, Abbott, a rightwing Republican, has come under fire over Operation Lone Star. In recent years, it has faced repeated federal scrutiny amid deadly buoys, allegations of migrant mistreatment by authorities and deaths of national guard soldiers.
