McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to take nearly two dozen Republican Texas state representatives on Thursday to a controversial park in Eagle Pass that the state has blocked from federal officials in the name of border security.

The following Texas state representatives have been invited to Shelby Park:

• State Rep. Greg Bonnen

• State Rep. Benjamin Bumgarner

• State Rep. Dustin Burrows

• State Rep. Briscoe Cain

• State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione

• State Rep. Mano DeAyala

• State Rep. Stan Gerdes

•  State Rep. Cody Harris

• State Rep. Cole Hefner

• State Rep. Lacey Hull

• State Rep. Jacey Jetton

• State Rep. Stan Kitzman

• State Rep. Stephanie Klick

• State Rep. Jeff Leach

• State Rep. Candy Noble

• State Rep. Matt Shaheen

• State Rep. John Smithee

• State Rep. David Spiller

• State Rep. Lynn Stucky

• State Rep. Kronda Thimesch

• State Rep. Ellen Troxclair

• State Rep. Terry Wilson

Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Texas Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Freeman Martin and Adjutant General of Texas Major Gen. Thomas Suelzer also plan to attend, according to an announcement from the governor’s office. 

The group will receive a briefing on border security initiative as part of Operation Lone Star — the state’s $10 billion border security program.

A news conference is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. CST when “a border security announcement in response to President Joe Biden’s reckless open border polices,” will be given, according to the governor’s office.

Shelby Park has been blocked to federal officials since Jan. 10 when the Texas Military Department built a gate preventing entry into the city’s park, which is home to the only public boat ramp for the 28,000 residents of the border town of Eagle Pass.

No Democrats have been invited to Thursday’s briefing.

Texas state Rep. Eddie Morales, Jr., a Democrat who is from Eagle Pass, told Border Report that most who are on the list have been endorsed for reelection by Abbott.

Morales criticized the briefing — the second that Abbott is holding in the span of four days at Shelby Park.

On Sunday, Abbott brought 14 Republican governors from across the country to the park, a day after the Take Back Our Border convoy traveled to the region and held a rally 20 miles away in the tiny hamlet of Quemado, Texas.

Morales says there were numerous arrests by Eagle Pass police and Maverick County sheriff’s deputies over the weekend and he said there even was a bank robbery on Friday — which officials have not connected to the caravan. But Morales says his normally quiet and tranquil small border community has been thrust into a global spotlight and is drawing many people from out of town and he worries why they are all coming.

He said several people who came in the 10-hour-long caravan from Dripping Springs, Texas, and were denied entry into the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch in Quemado, where a prayer rally was held on Saturday afternoon, slept in parking lots of shopping centers and were a threat to public safety. 

The FBI on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Tennessee man who is accused of plotting an attack on the border in Eagle Pass.

Amerika Garcia Grewal, founder of the Eagle Pass Border Vigil Coalition, says community members are scared for their safety and they want these caravans and political gatherings to stop in Eagle Pass.

“This is not what Eagle Pass is about. And the only thing that’s changed is the governor’s actions. The governor is using Eagle Pass as the stage for his political pranks,” she told Border Report on Thursday.

“We originally had Saturday events planned. We called it ‘Meet a Local,’ and we were going to be there with a barbecue and hot dogs and we would have a chance to talk with each other, and to interact and get to know the people who are visiting in our community. But apparently, there were visitors in our community who were openly carrying long rifles and other weapons. And so the City of Eagle Pass Police Department asked us, ‘please, you know, we asked you to not hold this event.’ And so in the interest of safety, we decided not to,'” she said.

She said another prayer service they planned to hold Sunday morning in Shelby Park also was canceled after police cordoned off the area surrounding Shelby Park.

“I do worry about my safety,” Garcia Grewal said. “There was a gentleman who was arrested in Tennessee who had intent to come down here. And if you read the police report about what he wanted to do — he intended to come and kill people. He is very explicit in his language. We didn’t have these kinds of problems before Abbott started talking about open borders, and took over Shelby Park. So it’s almost as though he’s trying to incite violence here in Eagle Pass. He’s creating the problem. And we’re asking him to stop.”

Garcia Grewal says the community is sending a letter to Abbott asking him to stop coming to Eagle Pass and to reopen Shelby Park.

“We are lifelong residents of Eagle Pass. This has never happened before. We have never felt unsafe in our border town until this past weekend,” reads the letter. “Our beautiful and safe public park has been taken away from us and turned into a military-style staging area, now being used as a backdrop for political theater … We refuse to be treated as second-class citizens in our own town, in our state, in our own country. We kindly request that you relinquish control over Shelby Park and restore our rights and access to our own public space.”

The group also requested that the governor hold a town hall meeting with locals and invite community leaders.

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - A roughly 15-year initiative to honor a Mexican-American labor leader is gaining some traction here in Laredo.

During Monday night’s City Council meeting, members approved an item to move forward with renaming a boulevard in honor of Cesar Chavez near the future Buena Vista Sports Complex.

For over a decade, members of the Cesar Chavez Alliance group have been pushing to honor the work of the civil rights activist by renaming a street, boulevard, or highway in his honor.

Adolfo Gonzalez, a member of the Cesar Chavez Alliance said it’s important to honor the life of Cesar Chavez.

“This legacy of a Chavez, a lot of people didn’t know, I tell them he was a veteran like myself a veteran and he came back and fought for those rights and the civil rights and the living conditions of the people in the migrant fields,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez adds that other cities such as San Antonio, Austin and Dallas have named streets after Cesar Chavez.

The Buena Vista Spots complex will be located near Lomas Del Sur Boulevard.

KGNS previously reported that the sports complex had an expected opening date of July of this year.

LAREDO, Tx. (KGNS) - Authorities need your help locating a man wanted for burglary of a vehicle.

Laredo Police are searching for 59-year-old Alberto Enrique Guerra who is accused of two cases of burglary and theft that happened form Dec. 2023 and Jan. 2024.

If you have any information on his whereabouts, you are asked to call Laredo Police at 956-795-2800 or Crime Stoppers at 956-727-TIPS.

All calls will remain anonymous, and you may qualify for a cash reward for any information that leads to an arrest.

LAREDO, TX (KGNS) - A system glitch in the Mexican customs system continues to cause major traffic in Laredo.

The issues started on Wednesday afternoon which brought traffic to a standstill on the Loop 20 connection to the World Trade Bridge.

Laredo Police say Mexico is still having issues with its ANAM system at the World Trade Bridge and Colombia Bridge.

Authorities say this means that there will be an increase in tractor trailer traffic on our city streets.

Police will continue to monitor the situation and deploy officers to control the traffic.

Drivers are being urged to avoid high traffic areas.

Due to heavy traffic, the on-ramps to Loop 20 are closed including the Bucky Houdmann Boulevard ramp, the E Point Drive Ramp near Cheddars, Crossroad Avenue and I-35 and Loop 20.

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - After a three day trial, the man accused of killing another man in 2019 was found not guilty.

Closing arguments began Wednesday morning in the trial of Alfonso Salinas, who was accused of causing the death of Samuel Hernandez.

As of 3 p.m. Salinas was found not guilty of the murder and aggravated assault causing bodily injury.

Five years ago, Hernandez was found inside a vehicle that had crashed into a concrete barrier and died five days later from his injuries.

The trial took place in the 341st District Court.

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - A three-vehicle collision is reported in south Laredo Tuesday evening.

The crash happened at around 8 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 83 and Pine.

According to Laredo Police, the collision caused delays for drivers headed southbound at the time.

No other details have been shared such as the cause of the crash, or whether there were any injuries; however, the video did show an ambulance at the scene.