The State of Texas has a pattern of defying federal priority in enforcing border policy. For months they’ve denied access to Border Patrol agents, fencing off access near the Rio Grande and physically barring passage as part of Operation Lone Star.

On January 12th, the Texas Military Department and the Texas National Guard denied access to Border Patrol agents who were alerted to migrants in distress in the Rio Grande river. Three migrants, including two children, drowned. Federal Border Patrol enforcement is rife with abuse, to be sure. But the State of Texas is engaged in deliberately provocative, illegal, and dangerous policy by claiming the sole authority to engage in border enforcement. As a result of the standoff between state and federal authorities, vulnerable people are put in danger every day, and preventable tragedies like this one are allowed to occur.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)