Is Eagle Pass the new Fort Sumter?
Governor Abbot is channeling the ghost of confederate general Jeff Davis. We should all be worried.
Back in 1861, the successionist states began the Civil War by launching an armed attack on US troops stationed at Ft Sumter in the Charleston, South Carolina Harbor. This week, Texas sent its National Guard to block federal agents from accessing the Rio Grande to perform border patrol functions.
The Lead Field Coordinator and incoming Chief Patrol Agent for the Del Rio Section of the U.S. Border Patrol, Robert Danley, told the Supreme Court in an emergency filing,
Beginning around 8:00 p.m., Central Time, on January 10, 2024, Border Patrol was denied access to an approximately 2.5 mile stretch of border, inclusive of Shelby Park and stretching south. Texas National Guard (TNG) established fencing and concertina wire, and is blocking access to of Shelby Park and blocking entrances through federally owned and maintained border barriers with armed soldiers. In total, a combination of armed TNG personnel and equipment, fencing, and concertina wire is blocking Border Patrol from approximately 2.5 miles of access points to the U.S.-Mexico border.
He added,
On January 11, 2024, a Department of Defense (DOD) active duty military service member who was deployed to provide logistical support to Border Patrol was denied access to the area underneath the port of entry to refuel Border Patrol’s generators staged under the port of entry at the U.S. terminus of the bridge.
Just as in 1861, the government of the United States must now contend with a state that is using its military to interrupt and to confront the armed forces of the government. As of this moment, it is not clear what Texas intends to do in the zone they have declared off limits to the United States. We do know that it is where Texas has placed concertina wire in the water so that any migrant risks serious injury or death in the water. That razor wire is the subject of litigation as it likely violates international treaties as well as US law. Previously the courts instructed Texas to allow the US government access to the river to provide emergency aid to injured swimmers. That aid is no longer possible. Â Even if that is an effect of the Texas blockade, we do not know its purpose.
What we do know is that it is the most serious challenge to federal authority launched by any state in memory. It is a military challenge. What could go wrong?
Heaven help us if shots are fired.