Aiexpress – Texas will create an operations base in Eagle Pass for up to 1,800 National Guard members, increasing the state’s military presence in the border community where it has struggled with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday.
The 80-acre property along the Rio Grande will open not far from Shelby Park, the riverfront region where Texas National Guard men have placed miles of razor wire and begun restricting entry to US Border Patrol agents.
“This will increase the ability for a larger number of Texas military department personnel in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and more efficiently,” Abbott said in a statement.
Abbott stated that the camp will enhance living circumstances for soldiers sent to the US-Mexico border, a problem that plagued the Guard’s mission during the first months of Operation Lone Star.
Maj. General Suelzer, the chief of the Texas Military Department, stated that the camp will be built in increments of 300 beds every 30 days, with the first phase expected to be completed by April. He stated that the structure will have three command posts, weapons storage rooms, and a helicopter pad.
Texas officials continue to gain control of Shelby Park, north of the campgrounds, as part of Abbott’s widening border operation. The mayor of Eagle Pass said the change in early January took the community off guard and questioned the timing, given that crossings had declined in recent weeks.
Last month, the US Justice Department requested the Supreme Court order Texas to allow Border Patrol agents back into the park. The Biden administration claims Border Patrol personnel use the park to monitor the river and launch boats into the Rio Grande.
