AILSA CHANG, HOST:
There's a park in downtown Eagle Pass, Texas, that became a focal point in tensions between the state and the Biden administration over immigration enforcement. The state of Texas took over Shelby Park more than a year ago during the peak of illegal border crossings. The park has now reopened to the public, and Eagle Pass residents say the moment is bittersweet. Texas Public Radio's Marian Navarro has this story.
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MARIAN NAVARRO, BYLINE: Shelby Park lies adjacent to the Rio Grande and sits right next to an international bridge connecting Eagle Pass to the Mexican city of Piedras Negras. For decades, Shelby Park was a place where people around the community gathered - children played baseball and soccer, the sound of Tejano music blasted at yearly festivals and carnivals. Juan Cruz Moreno, a Vietnam veteran and retired teacher in Eagle Pass, remembers a time when the park used to belong to the people.
JUAN CRUZ MORENO: We had, like, celebrations, and we would go over there and see the fireworks and all that stuff. So that's something that the kids remember.
NAVARRO: That began to change as the park became a keystone for Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion border security crackdown. In January of 2024, during an unprecedented number of immigrant crossings along the southern border, the state of Texas fully took over the park. In December of 2023, right before the Texas National Guard cordoned off the park with concertina wire and closed the gates, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported nearly 52,000 immigrant encounters in the Del Rio Sector. That number sat at just under a thousand in March.
In early April, the big black metal gates of the park quietly reopened. The soldiers retreated from the gates, but Operation Lone Star's grip is still visible here. Shipping containers and concertina wire still line the banks of the Rio Grande. Surveillance helicopters can still be seen flying over the park.
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NAVARRO: Governor Abbott's office said in a statement, barriers and presence on the border would remain. Additionally, the Pentagon announced in March it would send around 3,000 active duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Amerika Garcia Grewal is the codirector of the grassroots nonprofit Frontera Federation.
AMERIKA GARCIA GREWAL: The state of Texas has only abandoned the gates. They have not left the park, so they still have just as much machinery and men and equipment.
NAVARRO: Local resident Jorge Villalpando says the park used to be a place the community came together for big events, including the annual springtime festival, Noches Mexicanas. Since Shelby's closure, the event has been held at a smaller nearby park, significantly reducing fundraising efforts.
JORGE VILLALPANDO: Hopefully, everything will go back to normal, but we don't know what's going to happen between here and then. They might close it down again.
NAVARRO: Despite the park's reopening, residents still can't have access to the only boat ramp on the Rio Grande. Garcia Grewal says using the river front was an important aspect of Shelby Park.
GARCIA GREWAL: We have no access to the river, to fishing, to the boat ramp.
NAVARRO: Easter weekend was a popular time for families to gather near the river, little girls in dresses posing with their baskets.
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NAVARRO: This Easter, the park was quiet. Priscilla Olivarez is senior policy attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. She said the state's takeover of the park had an impact on Eagle Pass residents.
PRISCILLA OLIVAREZ: Wanting to access a park, wanting to access a community space is something that we can all relate to as Texans.
NAVARRO: Villalpando questions the need to have several state and federal agents patrolling the border.
VILLALPANDO: There are enough border patrols and - like they used to do it. I mean, how did they do it before without all the National Guard being there?
NAVARRO: For now, Eagle Pass residents say Shelby Park's reopening is a step forward, but they still hope for a future with baseball games, community festivals and canoe races on the Rio Grande. For NPR News, I'm Marian Navarro in San Antonio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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