By Kimberly James; WBAP and KLIF News, Dallas, Texas.
SOUTH TEXAS – (WBAP/KLIF) – A Texas flag now fliles high on Fronton Island in the Rio Grande, with Texas declaring that roughly 170 acre naturally formed island as part of Lone Star State territory.
Fronton Island sits between Texas and Mexico in the Rio Grande and has been historically used by smugglers as a middle or rest area when crossing the river and border with contraband. The state of Texas has now cleared all vegetation to the ground on Fronton Island, with the intent of better seeing cartel activities, both human and drug smuggling. Gunfire has been reported and spotted by drones on Fronton Island; ostensibly, by cartel associates. The Texas Military now patrols the island.
A couple of islands further up the river near Eagle Pass have also been declared Texas property, with they and Fronton Island to be another dispute within the U.S. immigration issue, on the front burner in Texas politics. The Texas Military has yet to cede control of the roughly 50-acre Shelby Park, a city park in Eagle Pass, prohibiting federal Border Patrol agents from entering the space to continue to process migrants, or perform rescues. Border Patrol agents reported being prohibited by the Texas Military to enter Shelby Park to aid a woman and child struggling in the Rio Grande, later found drowned.
As Texas continues to announce new moves in it’s dubbed “Operation Lone Star” to stem the flow of undocumented migrants into Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled razor wire installed by Texas on the Rio Grande riverbanks could be cut by federal Border Patrol agents as a federal case reaffirming all immigration as sole federal, and not state, responsibility. Texas responded by installing new razor wire, and continuing it’s military hold and blocks at Shelby Park.
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