Virginia Allen is a senior news producer and podcast host for The Daily Signal. She is the co-host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.” Send an email to Virginia.
The clothing strewn across the riverbank gives away that Shelby Park on the Rio Grande was a major crossing point for illegal aliens not long ago. But since Texas National Guard assumed control of the park, the crossings have nearly stopped entirely, according to authorities.
The Daily Signal visited Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas Thursday and spoke with members of the National Guard. The military officials said the illegal crossings have ground to a near halt since early January when National Guard took over operations at the park, which sits on the border of Mexico.
The narrow and shallow water of the Rio Grande on the edge of Shelby Park make the site an appealing crossing point. Border Patrol used the wide-open space of the park as a holding location for the illegal aliens after they crossed the river.
Texas National Guard is preventing Border Patrol from processing illegal aliens in the parks and has instead laid concertina wire fencing along the riverbank and built a 4,500-foot border wall using shipping containers topped with sharp razor wire.