EAGLE PASS, Texas (NewsNation) — Texas again defied the White House on Friday by arresting migrants as the state continues its refusal to allow Border Patrol into a park along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texas officials placed a wire gate at the park’s entrance on Jan. 10, and Border Patrol agents said they went to the gate but were denied entry after learning that several migrants were distressed in the river on Friday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says a mother and her two children drowned that night in the river while trying to cross from Mexico into South Texas. DHS says Border Patrol agents were not allowed into Shelby Park.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said Texas won’t allow Border Patrol agents “on that property anymore.” The move has widened a broader dispute with President Joe Biden over illegal crossings and his administration’s attempts to stop a rollout of aggressive border measures by Texas, including floating barriers in the Rio Grande and a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants on illegal entry charges.

Actions and Justifications

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Wednesday sent a pointed response letter to the Department of Homeland Security saying Texas will continue its takeover of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass to “defend her territory” against illegal entry from immigrants.

The letter came just hours before a Wednesday night deadline to respond to the Biden administration’s request for the state to vacate control of the border park, which is across from Piedras Negras, Mexico, and a popular area for migrants to try to illegally enter into the United States.

In Paxton’s three-page letter to Jonathan Meyer, DHS general counsel, Paxton highlights what he calls several “mistaken assertions” and “false claims” by DHS regarding three migrant drownings Friday night in the Rio Grande, as Border Patrol agents were unable to enter the park.

A new Texas law, set to take effect in March, would allow all law enforcement in the state to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally and empower judges to order them out of the U.S. The Justice Department has sued, arguing the law would overstep on the federal government’s authority over immigration.

Federal Response and Legal Implications

The Biden administration says it’s complying with asylum law as it exists by detaining and processing foreign nationals who cross the border unauthorized between ports of entry — a longstanding practice that’s recently come into the national spotlight because of growing regional migration.

But Paxton expressed a different interpretation of the law.

“Quite apart from the Shelby Park specifics, your demand letter rests on a more fundamental misunderstanding of federal law and the role of sovereign States within our constitutional order. This much is clear from your invocation of a federal statute that gives U.S. Border Patrol warrantless access to land within 25 miles of the border, but only ‘for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States,’” wrote Paxton.

The Migrants’ Experience

More than 300,000 migrants crossed the southern border in December.

U.S. authorities encountered nearly 140,000 unaccompanied minors at the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Almost 10,000 are still in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to its latest data.

Asylum-seekers must wait six months for work authorization. Processing takes no more than 1.5 months for 80% of applicants, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

José Guerrero, who worked in construction after arriving 27 years ago from Mexico, acknowledged many new arrivals felt compelled to flee their countries. He says he wants the same treatment.

“All these immigrants come and they give them everything so easily, and nothing to us that have been working for years and paying taxes,” Guerrero, now a landscaper in Homestead, Florida, about 39 miles south of Miami. “They give these people everything in their hands.”

What Happens Next?

Texas has been busing migrants from the border to Democrat-led cities across the U.S., some of which are trying to stop or reroute the arrivals.

Mayors of Chicago, New York City, Denver and others have called for more federal funding to address the growing humanitarian crisis as scores of migrants sleep in sub-zero temperatures.

The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliates Border Report and The Hill contributed to this report.