Eagle Pass park reopens more than a year after the state seized it for border security

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After more than a year of being occupied by the state for its border security operations, a 47-acre park in Eagle Pass has quietly been reopened for public use as state and national forces have withdrawn.

Located on the Rio Grande and next to an international bridge, Shelby Park was seized in January 2024 to be used as a staging area for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and the Texas National Guard — against the wishes of Eagle Pass officials and some residents in the area.

Some residents began describing the park and surrounding areas as a war zone after state personnel and equipment moved in under the banner of Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security operation.

An Abbott spokesperson confirmed Monday that law enforcement had withdrawn from the park. In a statement, Abbott Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris attributed the state’s withdrawal to record low border crossings and credited President Donald Trump for the change.

“Texas held the line against the Biden-Harris border crisis for the past four years, and Governor Abbott looks forward to continuing to work closely with President Trump and his administration to protect our state and the nation," Mahaleris said.

Eagle Pass has been in the national spotlight as a locus of the border crisis, with Vice President JD Vance visiting Shelby Park in March alongside members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

Texas has spent over $11 billion in state money on Operation Lone Star, with $2.3 billion of it going to deploy state troopers to the Texas-Mexico border. Shortly after Trump began his second term, Abbott announced Texas would seek reimbursement for its border spending, which includes almost $5 billion for constructing sections of border wall.

The Border Vigil, a group of Eagle Pass residents that hosts vigils for people who have died attempting to cross the border, posted a Facebook Live video on Sunday of one of their members driving around and through Shelby Park. The park was mostly empty, but the barricade of shipping containers along the riverbank topped with concertina wire remained, the video showed.

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