Standoff at Eagle Pass

On January 11, 2024, the Texas National Guard took control of Shelby Park, a 47 acre area of parkland in the town of Eagle Pass, along the Rio Grande river, which separates the United States from Mexico, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an emergency declaration to close the park. In his declaration, Abbott cited the Mexico–United States border crisis and the need to secure the border. The Texas National Guard blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from patrolling the area, which the Border Patrol had been using to hold migrants in recent weeks.

A base, entitled 'Forward Operating Eagle', has begun being constructed at Eagle Pass, and can house up to 2,300 soldiers. The standoff is part of ongoing litigation between the United States and Texas.

Standoff
After the closure, three migrants were found drowned in the Rio Grande. Mexican authorities subsequently identified them as a 33-year-old woman and her two children, aged 10 and 8. The U.S. Border Patrol said it had alerted the Texas National Guard that a group of migrants were in distress in the waters outside the boat ramp in Shelby Park but that the National Guard took no action to rescue them. Texas lawyers responded that the National Guard was alerted only after the three had drowned, and that the National Guard had not spotted any migrants. Mexican authorities said that the boat never entered U.S. territory.

On January 22, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an order to vacate an injunction by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prevented Border Patrol agents from cutting concertina wire, which the National Guard had been using to make a fence in Shelby Park. The ruling concerned an earlier dispute and did not address Texas deploying razor wire or blocking federal officials from the park. On January 24, Abbott responded that Texas would refuse to let federal authorities access the park, vowing to "protect the sovereignty of our state". A military standoff between state and federal authorities over immigration is unique in modern American history; constitutional law professor Charles "Rocky" Rhodes and an editorial in the San Antonio Express-News said it may signal the start of a constitutional crisis.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, 25 other Republican state governors (every Republican governor but Vermont's Phil Scott) announced their support for Texas in the dispute, as did U.S. House speaker Mike Johnson. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis additionally committed to sending more resources after previously sending the Florida National Guard to reinforce the Texas government. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt pledged to deploy the Oklahoma National Guard to support Texas, and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced that 50 Indiana National Guardsmen would arrive in Texas by mid-March. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stated 15 to 20 Georgia National Guard troops would be sent to Texas. In Missouri, Governor Mike Parson issued an executive order to deploy up to 200 Missouri National Guard troops to Texas, as well as 22 state troopers "on a voluntary basis". Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated that approximately 40 Arkansas National Guard members would be deployed in Texas from April 1 through May 30. Other state and national Republican officials backed Texas.

On January 23, the Department of Homeland Security issued Texas attorney general Ken Paxton an ultimatum, ordering the removal of "obstructions" along the border and that the Border Patrol be given full access to Shelby Park by January 26. On January 24, Democratic Texas representatives Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar called for U.S. President Joe Biden to establish federal control over the Texas National Guard. On January 26, the deadline set by Department of Homeland Security passed. It had ordered Texas to agree to fully reopen disputed parts of the Shelby Park area to federal Border Patrol agents, emphasizing the need for confirmation and specifying the consequences of partial denial in a letter from DHS General Counsel Jonathan Meyer to Attorney General Paxton.

On January 29, more than two dozen Republican state attorneys general, and leadership from the Republican-controlled Arizona State Legislature, signed a letter supporting Abbott and Paxton, addressing President Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and commending Abbott's and Paxton's actions against what they called the "invasion, encouraged by Biden's refusal to follow federal statutory law".