Eagle Pass City Council to Consult with Attorney Regarding Negotiations with Texas Department of Public Safety Concerning DPS Presence at Shelby Park, and Take Possible Action at August 15, 2023 Special Meeting
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2023
Two weeks after unanimously rescinding on August 1, 2023 a controversial Criminal Trespass Affidavit signed by Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. designating the public park named Shelby Park as “private property” and authorizing the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to “enforce” the state’s Criminal Trespass statute against asylum-seeking migrants who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States through the city-owned park, the Eagle Pass City Council will tackle again this controversial issue at their special meeting on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. at City Council Chambers, City Hall, 100 South Monroe Street, Eagle Pass, Texas.
According to Agenda Item No. 19 of the Eagle Pass City Council Meeting on August 15, 2023, the City Council will go into “Executive Session pursuant to Section 551.071, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code—Consultation with attorney regarding negotiations with the Texas Department of Public Safety, regarding DPS presence at Shelby Park; and take possible action in Open Session regarding same.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety took over use and possession of the city-owned Shelby Park under the rescinded Criminal Trespass Affidavit and converted it into DPS’ Operation Lone Star Command and Staging Center at the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, denying the public access to and use of the public park on the banks of the Rio Grande in downtown Eagle Pass.
In addition, DPS bulldozed long established islands in the Rio Grande and converted them into security posts for its controversial Operation Lone Star Program, installed military-grade razor concertina wire along a seven mile stretch on the banks of the Rio Grande, installed empty metal storage containers on the banks of the Rio Grande, installed a floating marine buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, installed a DPS Mobile Command and Communications Center at Shelby Park, installed locked gates to the public boat ramp at Shelby Park, launches its DPS Marine Patrol Boats from the public boat ramp, and converted Shelby Park into a military “war zone” with Troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers personnel.
DPS has not withdrawn nor removed any of these items from Shelby Park after the Eagle Pass City Council unanimously rescinded the unlawful Criminal Trespass Affidavit signed by Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. Instead DPS insists it has authority to continue using Shelby Park as its Command and Staging Center for Operation Lone Star and has been holding negotiations with the City of Eagle Pass seeking to get a formal agreement approved by the City Council.
The State of Texas and DPS have not obtained permission from the International Boundary and Water Commission, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Fish and Wildlife Commission, and International Treaties between Mexico and the United States to install all of these things in the floodplain of the Rio Grande, resulting in the United States Department of Justice filing a federal lawsuit in Austin, Texas against Governor Greg Abbott and the State of Texas seeking removal of the floating buoys and an injunction from installing more buoys in the Rio Grande. A Court hearing is scheduled on August 22, 2023 at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Austin, Texas regarding this lawsuit.
Texas law also forbids the City of Eagle Pass to change the use or designation of city-owned public parks and recreational lands without providing notice to the public for three weeks in a local newspaper of a public hearing to consider a change of use or designation of a municipally-owned park, hold a public hearing after 30 days notice, and make a finding that there is no other feasible use of the public park before changing anything, according to Chapter 26 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code.
The Eagle Pass City Council is not in compliance with the state requirements enumerated in Chapter 26 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code because it has not published a notice for three weeks in a local newspaper regarding DPS presence in or use of Shelby Park, has not held a public hearing after providing 30 days notice, and has not made any findings concerning the use of Shelby Park to allow DPS presence in or use of Shelby Park.
No one is above the law—neither the City of Eagle Pass, DPS, the State of Texas, and Governor Greg Abbott.
The Eagle Pass City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, is open to the public. Any concerned citizen interested in this issue may communicate with members of the Eagle Pass City Council through their official contact information listed in the City of Eagle Pass website and/or attend the City Council meeting today, August 15th, at 5:30 p.m. Each citizen is allowed to address the City Council for up to three minutes during the Citizens Communications Agenda of the meeting.
